Dusts of Time
by FlawedBliss
Summary: A world stained by changes to the past. A knight and a princess, sent back in time, to chase an evil, to fix the present and to save the future. A second chance, a heavy weight on their shoulders. But they are not alone, after all, they have each other. WhiteKnight
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, had an idea for a fic. I know time travel fics are very common but I still wanted to give my own idea a shot. I don't think anyone has made one with two people jumping into the past, nor one where the antagonist also did it. So I hope this is something rather unique. Feel free to ask questions about the plot since time travel fics are nests for plot holes and paradoxes. I'll do what I can to answer your questions about anomalies as long as it doesn't reveal the plot line. The inner workings of something irrational like traveling through time are pretty difficult to rationally explain but I think I have a pretty decent explanation if anyone's interested in how I envisioned this to be possible. Anyway, this story will not have as much 'character development' in terms of the main characters but i'll try to add some side character...character development. This is going to be a Jaune x Weiss fic, tho it would focus more on active events, combat, action, storyline instead of romance. If you guys want, I can make flashback scenes, how the world changed in the 8 years they just jumped back from, how Weiss and Jaune got together, what happened to the rest of the cast, what happened to the initial war, to Cinder, Mercury and Emerald, what the next 3 years in Beacon was like for team JRRN.**

 **I also don't have a beta since I'm really new to writing, that paired with the fact that I'm not a native English speaker means there could most definitely be spelling/grammar mistakes down the line. I apologize for those in advance.**

 **Let me know your thoughts about this prologue/first chapter, any feedback would be much appreciated. So without further ado, Dusts of time (derived from Sands of time) Chapter 1! tada~**

 **Standard disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, that right belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

 **EDIT: the horizontal separation lines weren't showing, sorry if it confused a few people, put them in and edited the chapter now.**

 **EDIT2: Math is hard... I'm so sorry but i made a mistake with the numbers, its 9 years, not 8. I'm new to this so pardon my mistakes. i was excited to post this so i was a little sloppy with my proofreading, i promise i will be much more thorough in the future.**

* * *

Everything fell apart. Beacon Tower, once the highest structure for miles, was reduced to a jagged, cylindrical shaft less than half its original height. The vast open square in front of the auditorium was littered with craters and destruction. A few patches of fire were still nipping at the remaining woodwork. The normally fresh air was mixed with lingering smoke, grimm vapors and the distinct smell of burning flesh. Beacon has fallen… again, and this time, Vale is soon to follow.

Jaune tore down the splintered wooden remains of what once the large, dark oak double doors to the ballroom. The grimm invading the school have already left the area. The empty husk of what was once one of the greatest academies on Remnant no longer catching the interest of the creatures. A few stragglers here and there were still roaming the grounds, but they were not much of a threat to the twenty-six year old huntsman.

The young man was dressed in a black jacket stopping around mid thigh displaying a silver sigil right above his left shoulderblade, made up of a knight's helm, sword and shield. His arms were covered in metal gauntlets and his hands with black leather gloves. A black and blue checkered button up shirt was worn under the jacket and a gray t-shirt worn under that. His blue jeans held up by two crisscrossing belts and a pair of sneakers took up the lower half of the outfit. Two relatively large swords were strapped to his back in parallel with both hilts peeking out over his right shoulder.

The sound of the charred doors breaking of its brittle hinges preceded the loud crash caused by its impact with the ground as Jaune stepped into the large hall.

So far, his search had yielded no results, they didn't find him at the base of the tower, nor the lecture hall building. The fires that ate away at the tables and chairs had long since been extinguished and the black soot that covered most of the remaining surfaces now coated his equally black gloved hand as he pushed through debris and obstacles to move from one area to the next in search of their leader. _'Damn it old man, where are you?.. This doesn't look good'_ he thought as he let his eyes once again look about his surroundings.

Jaune sighed in frustration as he dragged his fingers through his blond hair, not caring in the slightest how the blackened ash dirtied his golden strands. He reached for the communication device strapped to his neck and pressed the button there.

"Find anything Weiss?" He asked his partner, not really optimistic about the odds of locating that man.

 _"Nothing… Jaune..."_ Came a soft reply.

"What is it?" He made his way back to the courtyard.

 _"This is a mess… The school, its..."_

"I know." he sighed, eying the remaining half of the dorms still standing. Several rooms were broken open, revealing the yellow painted walls that acted as a home away from home to the students. It has been six years since he graduated, but Beacon will always be a very pivotal point of his life. Seeing it in this state was making his heart ache.

 _"We were so close… all it took was another small push and we would have won… how could this happen?..."_ Jaune didn't respond… he didn't understand how this came to pass either. None of it made sense. They infiltrated Salem's base in Mantle, they defeated her army, they won! So _how?!_ They already had victory in their palms… but when they were upon Salem's castle up far north, when they were about to push the final blade through her plans, a bright white flash engulfed everything, Salem vanished and Vale was suddenly under attack, it just didn't make sense.

He made his way back to the ruined tower passing the fountain, now void of water having drained through the cracks on the ground. As he got closer, he once again passed the fallen chunks of metal and concrete that completely ruined the once even foot path. A fist sized pebble stood in the blond knight's path and was promptly kicked away as he took another step. The sound of the object bouncing off the uneven path thumped through the air as it finally collided with the larges block of the fallen tower. Jaune came to a sudden halt as he heard the rock making several clinks after it disappeared into the crack beneath the large chunk of debris, each sound more distant than the last. _'odd...'_ he mused. He eventually made a move over to it when a small echo made its way to his ears. His eyes widened as a thought struck him.

"Weiss, meet me at the tower!" he spoke through the com.

 _"Huh? Did you find something?"_

"I don't know, maybe. Just get over here." he ordered as he quickened his pace, weaving through the debris and ducking through the hole on the side of the tower's base. A few seconds later, the young white haired woman came through the main doors across from the side he entered from.

"What did you find?" the former heiress asked as soon as she met up with Jaune in the center of the room. Her taste for clothes hasn't changed that much since her teens. She was donning a white combat skirt and white boots running up to right under her knees. Her top however was a relatively long, black jacket paired with a white corset underneath. The same stylized 'knight's shield, sword and helm' symbol was engraved on the back of her jacket and the two pairs of parallel buttons kept it on snug and hugging her form. Her left palm was hovering over Myrtenaster grip while the clearly synthetic material that made up her right hand peeked out of her jacket's cuff. Her usual tiara-like hair pin was ever present keeping her hair as it has always been, tied to a tight pony tail on the side of her head.

Jaune slowly made his way to the right of the circular space. The columns were chipped and cracked and the golden elevator was crooked in its shaft. The normally green hue brought on by the overhanging lights was replaced by a soft golden glow as the sunlight flitted through the cracks on the walls.

"Eight years ago, when Cinder first started her assault on Vale, Professor Ozpin brought..." He paused and let out a slow sigh, "He brought Pyrrha and me down into a chamber no one other than a few people knew existed. It completely slipped my mind, but there's a vault under the tower."

"A vault?" Weiss asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"It's where Amber was hidden." She didn't know all the details about the previous fall maiden, she did however know enough. Amber was ambushed while traveling, got half of her power stolen and was put in a comatose state, kept alive only by Atlas technology. She died during the initial attack on Beacon eight years ago. She never really bothered with the where and how.

Jaune turned his head to the ruined golden box.

"We just have to move the elevator and it should be a straight drop through the shaft." Jaune added as he walked over to the contraption in question. Only half of it was peeking above the ground, the roof was dented and digging into the shaft's walls and its doors we're long since lost.

"Why would he be in a vault under the school?"

"He probably isn't, but I remember him mentioning having had it rebuilt long after the tower was finished. That has to mean something right? He has to have something hidden down there." Jaune explained as he lifted his arm, a sudden white glow covered the black gloved limb as he widened his stance and slammed his gauntlet clad fist unto the already dented roof of the elevator. A loud, explosive sound traveled through the empty elevator shaft as the box of metal collapsed into itself and slid down the wide rectangular hole. A few seconds passed before the echo of another thud traveled back up the shaft.

"Come on." He said as he started glowing a bright white before jumping into the darkness. The former heiress followed suit.

The young knight sprung from side to side to slow his descent toward the vault, illuminating the space with his warmly glowing aura. Weiss was following along, her own white glyphs adding to Jaune's light in pulses as she landed on platform after platform following her blond partner deeper into the earth.

Weiss saw Jaune land on the now demolished elevator roof with a light thump and the white haired girl followed soon after. Jaune opened his hand with his palm up and channeled more of his aura. The glow previously covering his entire body moved and congregated on his hand, expanding and covering is with a soft glow of light, illuminating the area around them.

Even with the relatively bright source of light, Weiss still had trouble seeing down the wide corridor. Taking a look around, she noted the sheer size of the chamber they just dropped in to.

"This… was under the school the entire time?"

"Yeah." Jaune started walking forward orienting himself by keeping the huge pillars in view at either side of him. The quiet pats of his boots together with the clicks of her own heels were the only sound they could hear.

Weiss kept close to her partner being their only source of light in the vast vault. Looking down, she noticed thin cracks running along the lit up ground beneath their feet.

The pair walked for what felt like several minutes until they saw a small glow at the end of their path. Weiss squinted her eyes to make out just what it was that was giving off a synthetic looking blue glow just as Jaune rushed forward.

"Hey!" The former heiress yelped as the darkness quickly seeped in with her human torch running forward. She quickly upped her pace and followed.

As they closed in on the odd glow, Weiss noted a machine with two coffin like shaped pods, both were laying relatively low and tilted up ever so slightly with their glass covered hatches closed.

"It's the same machine..." She heard her young knight say, "No… its… its different..." She couldn't quite place his tone, it seemed distant. She hated it when he lapsed into internal musings. He'd been a part of the Brotherhood for quite a long time before she joined herself, even back when he returned as a student after Beacon got restored and she is well aware that he's been through a lot between that time and her involvement with their secret group. And that wasn't even counting Pyrrha's death from way back, which she knew shook him to the core.

After the initial assault on Vale, her father was adamant about keeping her in Atlas, so she finished her Huntress training over there. With Beacon's restoration taking longer, she graduated ahead of her peers from Atlas Academy, with the then formed team JRRN, lead by Jaune,a year after. The young knight apparently spent the first half of the extra year hunting down Cinder together with Ruby, Nora and Ren and unlocked his semblance in that time. After many life and death situations and still absolutely no clue as to where their target was however, Ruby's uncle, Qrow, lead the group back to Vale and convinced them that this war wasn't over, that they'll get their chance as who ever was responsible for the attack will most certainly strike again. All they had to do was wait and prepare. She heard from Ruby that the veteran huntsman took a liking to Jaune, apparently saw potential in him, and trained him himself, before taking on the role as Beacon's new Headmaster a few months later. The number of students in Beacon dropped significantly that year compared to before the attack, but all the known power players returned to the school, aside from herself, Blake and Yang that is. This actually increased the overall average in skill among the students albeit dropping the sample size considerably. The staff also remained mostly intact aside from Headmaster Qrow taking over from the missing Professor Ozpin.

From what she'd been told, Jaune joined the Brotherhood even before they resumed their education at Beacon, so did Ruby. Ren and Nora were initially kept in the dark, but they were eventually introduced to the secret group of huntsman and huntresses dedicated to protecting Remnant from the shadows. And the four of them took several missions tracking down clues about their enemy's plans. Whatever he went through in the years roaming Mistral, whatever he witnesed in his missions while at Beacon, what ever he did during the one year after his graduation, before she met him again, whatever exactly happened… it changed him. Gone was the happy go lucky 'dunce', the ignorant and lazy klutz, the weak and pathetic young boy who forged his way into Beacon. The day she met him again, the day he saved her life from Adam Taurus, she saw a Huntsman, strong, skilled, full of strength and resolve, a knight in shining armor, who eventually became _her_ knight in shining armor. She shook her head to snap her out of her musings.

"You know what this is?"

"Not quite." he answered after a brief pause. "its like the machine Ozpin used to try and transfer Amber's aura to Pyrrha."

"Oh." now she understood his complicated expression earlier.

"But… its somehow different." he reached out and dragged his hand over one of the glass covered pods.

The between the machine's two coffin like hatches, it had a weird cylinder, around a meter and a half thick and a bit more than that high with weird ridges and what appears to be a small glass window emitting a very light blue hue. Taking a few steps forward, the young woman took a peek into the compartment. She narrowed her eyes at what she saw. In the middle of the cylindrical container, held up by several metallic arms, with wires attached to its top and bottom, was a fairly large, dust crystal. What was odd though was its shape and color. It was cleanly cut, like a prism, the shape one would get if they took two very tall pyramids and stuck them together base to base. But it also had cleanly drilled holes going from side to side. The color, or _colors_ were also rather extraordinary, it somehow looked like an Aurora Borealis, the northern lights she saw in Atlas from time to time. A mix of blues and greens. She had never seen dust like this before. _'huh… weird'_ she furrowed her brows and tilted her head slightly trying to get a better angle when she noticed something even more out of place. Her eyes widened as she witnessed the colors flowing and blending together in the crystal, as if it were made out of liquid. The metal hands holding the object in place obviously suggest that it is indeed a solid object, but the slow swaying of the blend lines give off the illusion of fluidity.

"Jaune."

"Hm?"

"Come take a look at this." Weiss said, her eyes still glued to the small port hole as she called the knight over with a wave of her hand. She moved over slightly to let him peer into the glass window. Jaune's face twisted into a look of confusion. So he didn't know what this crystal was either. In all her time involved in the world of huntsmen and huntresses, she has never encountered dust like this before. And that's saying something coming from the former heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. She had been taught about dust from a very young age by expert scientists and researchers.

The constant blinking of a small light caught her attention. Grasping Jaune by the elbow, she pulled him over to the source which she noticed was a holographic display projector in standby mode. She pointed at it and game her partner a questioning look. He merely shrugged and reached out for the power button. A holographic page popped up prompting several modes of authentication, from retinal scans, to hand prints sensors, to voice recognition, all of which she had seen, and used, before but never all at once. Whatever this was, it must have been a closely protected secret. She met his eyes for a brief moment before the young huntsman placed his hand on a gray, rectangular platform. A blue line ran from the top of the tab down to the bottom before running back up again. A beeb, and the small green indicator lit up. Jaune paused. It seems he's been authorized access to… whatever this was. He leaned forward slightly to align his right eye with the now active retinal scanner. Another passage ob blue light, down and up and down again, followed by another beeb and another green light.

A few seconds ticked by before the holographic screen came to life displaying a single life of text: " _State your Name and ID_ ". Jaune looked slightly unsure and turned to her for some kind of confirmation. She just game him a firm nod.

"Jaune Arc, registration number: 205436546" Jaune said his personal identification number granted to him by the kingdom of Vale. The very same number printed on his license.

Red words flashed across the display: " _Access Denied_ "

The knight once again furrowed his brows. Looking down in thought, he seemed to come to a conclusion as he once again raised his eyes to the screen.

"Jaune Arc, the 46th Valean knight." He spoke, a determined and confident edge to his voice.

The system came to life as it acknowledged the information. The generators at the back started thrumming, generating the much needed energy to power the machine. Several displays sprung up showing various charts and statistical data. Weiss and Jaune looked around in awe as the electronics sparked to life all around them.

 _"Jaune and Weiss..."_ The pairs heads whipped back to the display so quickly that Weiss' hair sailed against the young knights arm guards.

The face of Qrow, their missing leader was looking solemnly at them from the display.

 _"Listen carefully, I don't have much time to explain things thoroughly, I know you two are smart enough to fill in the blanks by your selves, so I'll make this quick."_ he paused as a tremor shook the recording device. _"Salem has made her move."_ as if the scene up on the surface wasn't enough for them to figure that out. _"She has acquired a crystal, one with spectacular properties, medicinal or destructive. More than that though, it had one particularly potent property, one that allowed her to rip a hole into the fabric of reality."_ His choice of words made the pair watching furrow their brows.

 _"With it, she tore through time and space itself and created a… tear… in the natural flow of the universe. She used it to jump back into the past."_

"What..." Weiss could only whisper in confusion. She couldn't have heard correctly. That's not possible… right?

 _"I know it sounds impossible, but it's the truth."_ He added with conviction. _"Changes she's making back there is having slow but steady effects on our present, the ambush of Vale… the people that attacked… some of them should have long since been dead. I saw people disappear, Glynda, just fading from existence. Only the small group of people who've been subjected to the same dust are safe from alterations. The death of their past selves would not affect their present."_

' _This is all too much information, no scratch that, this is just plain_ crazy! _Qrow can't expect us to just believe this!'_

 _"The two of you are the last ones of that group, Weiss when we saved you after you lost your arm back in the battle in Atlas. And Jaune, when we stitched up that massive hole in your chest back in the Second Battle of Vytal. You don't have much time before the alterations make it impossible for you to fix things. The crystal itself is impossible to alter through time so she most certainly has men out there right now looking for it. She already has all of the ones from Atlas, the one behind you, in that chamber, is the last one left. That dust is your only chance, you need to jump after her. The distance between the jumps are always constant. The machine behind you is primed and ready, just press the button on the inside of the pod, the use will consume the crystal, but its enough for two people. She doesn't know where the dust came from. She only got its use along with the samples, from the records she stole from Atlas after she attacked the research facilities. They were mined from the eastern deserts of Vacuo. You need to find it before her so go! Hurry! This is our one and final chance."_ with that the recording cut off.

Weiss and Jaune could only stare at the now dark wall where the projector previously lit up the display. Their minds were still not fully able to process what they just heard. Traveling through time? Jumping into the past? None of it made sense! Wess slowly tunred her head towards the blonde for confirmation that he'd indeed heard the very same thing she had just now. The wide eyes and completely overwhelmed look he wore told her all she needed to know. _'This… this is crazy...'_ she repeated in her mind.

She fully turned around to look at the machine behind her. Her mind just couldn't process all this. _'a time machine?_ Really?! _'_ Her inner voice screamed in disbelief.

An echo snapped them both out of their shocked states. They turned to look into the darkness that filled the long passage from the elevator to the end where they currently were. A light sparked from the far end, voices, footsteps, several sounds made their way towards them, echoing off the high walls. The light haired pair hurriedly blended into the shadows behind the pods as the source of the disturbance got closer. Friend or foe? The sounds go closer and closer, the clicking of heals got prominent, two pairs it seemed. The voices ceased as the light got closer and closer.

Jaune suddenly went stiff as a board and Weiss' own eyes winded as far open as they could go.

"What do we have here?" a smooth, silky voice echoes through the room. The flame which lit up the area growing slightly in one of the newcomers palm.

Before Weiss and Jaune stood Cinder, the same Cinder that Jaune himself had slain in the battle of Vytal, the very same that tore open his chest cavity before he plunged his blade between her shoulder and her neck, digging his blade all the way down to her heart. But it wasn't the appearance of their previously downed enemy that caused Jaune to freeze up however. Slightly behind Cinder, was _her. She_ was here.

"Hello Jaune" the second person spoke. The voice so familiar, yet lacking the warmth it once held. She looked different than how they remembered her all those years back. Black cracks running along her skin. Corneas the color of coal and irises a shade of red that could only be possessed by grimm. Behind Cinder, with an evil gleam in her eyes and a predatory grin on her lips, stood Pyrrha Nikos.

"P-pyrrha? I… I..." Weiss heard him gulp "I don't..."

"Did you miss me jaune?" the grimm infested spartan asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"This… this is impossible"

"Oh? Is it now?" Pyrrha took another step forward as she pulled a pitch black spear from her back. She vanished into a blurr. Weiss reacted on pure instinct as she cast a small wall of ice right in from of her partner. The spear being showed in the direction of the young knights abdomen was stopped a mere centimeter from his torso, the wall of ice locking the weapon in place. The redheaded girl grinned even wider over the top of the cold obstacle.

"Jaune snap out of it!" Weiss called to her partner. No reaction.

Pyrrha opened her palm and a black fluid like substance seemed to stretch within her hand. Slowly molding forming and shaping into another long black spear.

"Jaune!" She called out as pyrrha navigated around the small wall.

Weiss grit her teeth, her mind racing, what could she do? Cinder was content to just watch, and Jaune was still frozen with shock. She didn't know if she could beat this Pyrrha one on one and she was certain Cinder would step in if it got too close. "Shit."

She raced her rapier and slammed it down discharging her entire cartilage of ice dust to create a wall wide enough to block the entire.

"Jaune!" she shouted as she grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him over to the machine behind them.

He still wouldn't respond, even after she pushed him into the coffin like box.

"Wake up you dunce!" she screamed at him as she pushed her forehead against his. "She's not the Pyrrha you know, so snap out of it and let's go and save her, save _everyone_ " that finally got his attention. She could hear the two women behind the wall trying to break past it, the sound of cracking ice could be heard. _'not much time left...'_

Completely unsure about what they were about to do, she leaned her head slightly to meet his lips for a brief kiss. Before she pulled away and slammed the pod's cover shut. She slammed a small fist unto the glass to get his attention and pointed at the red button just beside his had. He nodded hesitantly before she ran over the other pod and jumped in. she could see the cracks forming on the ice now. She reached up to the latch on the cover and pulled it down. The pod sealed with a hiss. Both Weiss and Jaune slammed their fists againt the button on the inside of the compartment before the wall of ice finally shattered, Weiss saw cinder dash towards them, getting so very close, before everything went white.

* * *

The first thing Weiss noticed when she came to was that she had an overwhelming urge to puke her guts out. Eyes wide, stomach reeling and vision swimming. It took her a minute to get her bearing, for her mind to recover from the sudden lurch she experienced as well as the unbelievably bright flash of light. She lifted her hand to her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut. The urge to vomit was getting stronger but she managed to steel herself. The white haired girl finally managed to steel herself and get her beating heart under control. She leaned back in her seat and fought to steady her breathing. _'What the hell happened?'_ she dragged her hand over her face before freezing. Eyes wide, she slowly pulled her hand away and gazed at it. Gone was the synthetic material, no more translucent outer shell, no more motors and wires, no more gears and bolts. She gazed at flesh and bone.

Weiss jumped from her seat as the memories flooded back into her. She hurriedly whipped her head around, trying to figure out where she was. A Schnee Airship, the SDC logo printed on each seat. She looked out the window and her eyes grew even wider. _'Beacon...'_ her eyes went back to her hand. Standing up, she made her way over to the aircraft's bathroom. Locking the door behind her, she slowly lifted her gaze at the mirror. Looking back at her from the sheet of reflective glass, was a wide eyed, seventeen year old Weiss. She lifted her hands to her face, tracing her cheekbones. _'No way… '_

The former heiress, or in this case, the former-former heiress, pulled out her scroll. The 26th, its the day she arrived at Beacon. That's over 9 years ago! She opened the call function of her scroll and typed in a number she memorized by heart. It rang.

 _"Weiss?"_ a strained voice answered her.

"Please tell me I'm not going crazy."

 _"That depends..."_ she heard a strained breath followed by a wretch and a groan. _"Did you just travel over 9 years back into the past and find yourself in your 17 year old body?"_

She didn't respond. That thing… actually worked.

"Where are you?"

 _"Urgh… transport airship to Beacon. You?"_

"Same, an SDC one though."

 _"Of course princess."_ Weiss scowled slightly at the nickname. _"I can't believe that thing worked… "_

 _"_ Meet me when you front of the fountain _._ "

 _"The place where you blew up Ruby?"_ he asked with a slight chuckle.

"Jaune..."

" _Alright, alright… see you in a bit then..._ " the call ended ' _well he took it well...'_ She pocketed her scroll and leaned forward, both of her hands on either side of the bathroom's sink.

* * *

It actually worked. The call with Weiss confirmed it. _'9 Years… damn...'_ After puking his breakfast out into one of the ships trash bins, the young knight now leaned against the wall and slid down to the ground. He rechecked his scroll again. Yep, the date clearly shows it, the view out of the windows also show it, the young versions of Ruby and Yang right across from him also show it. _'9 fucking years...'_ he leaned his head back unto the wall. And closed his eyes. He needed more time before he could think straight. He was pretty sure that the overwhelming shock will settle on him along with a whole myriad of emotions once he's able to actually think somewhat straighter. Right now, his mind feels numb and foggy.

He knew he should be thinking about more important stuff, stopping Salem, saving his friends, but for now, he still needed to wrap his mind around the reality of his situation. He's back in his teenage body, with memories eight years into the future. Yeah, this is going to take some time to accept. And when it does, it's gonna come crashing down. With that final thought, he waited for the Airship to dock, eyes remaining closed and head still firmly leaning against the back wall.

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 **Chapter end.**

 **Lemme know your thoughts!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! I'm back! Thanks for the reviews, faves and follows! I didn't expect there to be quite that many people interested in my first true attempt at a fan fic. Keeps me motivated to write more. Anyway, I had a week long break from college here in Germany because of "Pfingstferien" which appears to be something called "Whitesun" in english (no clue if other countries have it as well) so I had a lot more time to write, that's why this story came out much sooner than I originally planned.**

 **I also wanted to ask you guys what you think about the chapter length, too long? Too short? Too little going on? Feedback would be appreciated.**

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 **So without any further delay, I present Dusts of Time Chapter 2!**

 **Standard disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, that right belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

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"Weiss?" Jaune called with a shaky breath as he saw the young girl waiting for him by the fountain. Slowly but surely, the emotions were overwhelming him. His thoughts, now slightly more coherent, were still running wild. _'This is 9 years in the past, my friends are still alive, my sisters, my parents, Ren… Pyrrha… she's somewhere around here.'_

"Jaune, you ok?" she asked him.

"No.. not really, no. you?" He asked as he started walking towards Beacon Tower.

"I feel the same…"

Silence.

"so… Ozpin?" She asked.

Jaune shrugged, it was the most logical thing to do. Besides, with their current state of mind, any plan they make would be emotionally driven and not thoroughly thought through. The pair rounded the corner past the courtyard.

The path to Beacon tower was rather deserted with most freshmen residing in the auditorium.

"How do we even explain th-" whatever the girl was about to say was cut off as Jaune pulled her into a tight hug. His face buried in her hair, his arms tight round her waist. She relaxed into him, although it took some time, she has long since gotten used to his sudden acts of affection. She rested her head on his shoulder as she wrapped her own lithe arms around his back. They didn't say anything, they didn't have to. He felt like his world has just been turned upside down and the little fencer in his arms is the only solid pillar keeping him from falling apart.

After a while, the young knight released her.

"Sorry, this is going to take a lot of getting used to." he finally said, with a small sarcastic chuckle.

Weiss answered him with a slight shake of her head. "I probably needed that as well."

The young knight turned his head to the side to gaze at the tower which was now finally visible past the auditorium's walls. "Well, traveling through time is not much of a daily occurrence... Now that I actually look though, its actually pretty calming. Seeing the school so full of life again."

"It feels so… surreal. Like its one big dream." Jaune could only smile at her accurate description of how this all seemed.

"Come on, lets go find the professor before he comes down for the opening ceremony." the young huntsman took the lead.

"So have you got any ideas as to how we would breech the subject to the headmaster? What we are about to tell him is not exactly the most… believable of situation." the huntress beside him asked.

Jaune let out a chuckle. "I think the professor is used to dealing with stuff outside the norm."

"hmm." She only hummed in response.

The rest of the walk to Beacon tower was rather uneventful. They passed a few students along they way, both upperclassmen who were making their way to and from classes, and a few freshmen who were exploring their new school. The pair was left to themselves however and reached the base of the tower without any interruptions. Pressing the button on the wall, they waited a few seconds before a ding signaled the arrival of the golden box to take them up to the highest point of the tower.

The inside of the elevator was basic with several buttons labeled with floor numbers situated to the right of the double doors. The buttons were aligned in a grid 3 buttons wide and 6 buttons high with an extra button in the center bottom for the ground floor and the center top for the headmaster's office. Jaune reached out and pressed the top most one and the doors closed in front of them. The back light that lit up the big G moved to light up the floor buttons in succession from 1 to 18 before finally coming to a halt at the top most square engraved with the current headmaster's sigil, a pair of green gears, one inside the other.

* * *

The Beacon headmaster was just about to fill his cup and head down to the opening ceremony when he noticed the elevator's indicator number steadily rise. Glynda was down in her office going through the final preparations for initiation and he knew of no other who would be visiting the office at this time. He wondered who it was that has come to pay him a visit as he slowly sat back down in his chair.

Professor Ozpin's office was rather simple by design, a fairly large room with tall glass walls, a desk and a chair. The biggest oddity was the large gears that ticked and tocked above and below it.

The pointer indicating which floor the lift is currently at was rising steadily and was nearing the top. Ozpin placed his mug back onto the table and adjusted his green scarf. Another few seconds and a resounding ding could be heard as the small box finally reached its destination.

Ozpin was quite surprised to say the least. He did not expect two of his up and coming students to come by for a visit before initiation, much less know where his office was.

"Mr. Arc, Ms. Schnee." he started, placing his elbows on the table and intertwining his fingers under his nose. "To what do I owe the visit?"

Silence. The pair just stood there, oddly shuffling in their feet as if pondering exactly what to say and how to say it. The young girl finally stepped forward.

"Professor, there is something urgent we have to tell you."

"And that would be?" the headmaster shifted his eyes to look directly at the young huntress-in-training in front of him.

"We're from the future." the young knight beside her spoke up causing Ozpin to raise one of his eyebrows.

"I… beg your pardon?"

"We're from the future." the knight repeated. "Nine years into the future to be exact."

Beacon's headmaster moved his gaze from one to the other. In his long years in service, he has seen much, so very much. So it takes something very special to catch him off guard. But right now, the man was caught speechless.

"I… do not know what to make of that. Surely you must jest."

"We aren't sir." Weiss replied, voice slightly unsure but eyes determined.

"Do you two honestly expect me to believe that you traveled through time from the future? Both of you have complete records, Jaune Arc and Weiss Schnee, both seventeen years of Age, if you came from nine years into the future, you hardly look the part."

"Our future memories were transferred to our past selves sir." it was the knight that answered this time.

"Mr. Arc, if this is some sort of dare you two have been challenged to, then I highly suggest coming clean, I am not one to spoil harmless fun and you will not be in trouble for this."

"It's the truth sir."

"Miss Schnee, I highly-"

"In around a year from now, right before the Vytal festival, the first attack against Beacon will happen. It will be lead by a mysterious girl named Cinder Fall, together with the much more known Roman Torchwick. They will lead with orchestrated tragedies in the one on one rounds of the festival tournament which would bring the vile creatures knocking on our doorsteps. The massive spike in negativity will awaken the grimm dragon slumbering within the mountain behind you. In the confusion, you are forced to move up your own plans. You will bring Pyrrha Nikos down into the Vault beneath the school and attempt to transfer the current Fall Maiden's Aura into her." At the last few sentences, the professors felt his eyes progressively widen. "This of course gets interrupted by Cinder and Amber ends up dead. The freed power within her will then seek out its other half in the form of her assailant, the very same Cinder leading the attack. You will then proceed to battle against her and lose, you'll go missing ever since with Qrow taking your place as leader of your Brotherhood and eventually, the new Headmaster of Beacon once it reopens... Enough to convince you? Or should I go on?"

"… it seems that you have caught my attention Mr. Arc, Ms. Schnee. Explain the how, the who and the why."

"The how will be rather vague sir, all we were told is that the SDC mined out some unique dust from… a specific location. One with several properties, one of which is the ability to travel through time with the aid of a certain machine. it.. appears to merely send a persons aura and memories, and not their physical bodies. The who, Qrow, the person who takes up the mantle after your disappearance. As for the why..." the heiress paused.

"Go on..."

"Salem sir. She used a similar machine before us, the effects of her alterations to the past were already noticeable by the time we chased after her. The distance of time traveled is apparently constant so she, in all likelihood, has around a three day head start."

At this, Ozpin's hands dropped to the table. "Salem? Salem is dead."

"I guarantee you sir, she isn't." Jaune saw the headmaster's jaw clench as he stood up. His palms flat against his table, his head bowed slightly and eyes wide peeking from over his tinted glasses.

"This changes everything."

Jaune snuck a peak at his partner.

"Who Amber is and more importantly where she's kept is a closely guarded secret, no one outside the brotherhood should know about her. Not only that, the dragon in the mountain has been asleep for generations. Additionally… you know about Salem… Mr. Arc, Ms. Schnee, I am assuming your future selves are part of the Brotherhood as well then?"

"Yeah. Qrow recruited me himself, as for Weiss, she got introduced through general Ironwood."

"I see."

"So you believe us professor?" the young huntress asked.

"The information you have can only come from where you claim. So for the moment yes, let us say that I do, in fact, believe that you are... from the future." Both Jaune and Weiss let out a sigh of relief. As confident as they sounded earlier, the truth is, neither was truly sure if the Headmaster would have believed their story, no matter how much the truth it was. "With that out of the way, I request that you tell me everything you know, start from the beginning."

* * *

Telling the entire story took quite a bit longer than Weiss expected. The professor was very patient with them however, asking the right questions to get the flow of events going. Nine years is a long time to summarize into one conversation. The sad thing about it was that since Salem also traveled back, most of the information will be obsolete. Nevertheless, the professor was adamant about them retelling everything in as fine a detail as they could manage leaving out close to nothing of importance. The key information that remained constant however was quietly recorded and the headmaster seemed to engrave the details into his mind. The names of Salem's associates in particular were of great importance.

"They're all in there you know?" She asked the huntsman beside her. Both of them were standing in front of the side door to the auditorium.

"It'll be hard to talk to them normally. We pretty much know their entire life story."

"Yeahp, and they have absolutely no clue who we are."

"Doesn't make this any easier." both of them were hesitating.

"We still gotta go in there though, remember what the headmaster said, can't rouse suspicion. And we are still technically students."

"Ladies first." the young Schnee turned to glare at him.

"...oh you are such a child." she reached out and placed her palm on the doorknob. Before she could turn it however, the larger hand of the knight beside her found its way on top of hers.

"You're right... we do this together." he told her with a small smile.

He guided her hand and twisted the knob before pulling the piece of wood back into the hallway. There were no creeks as the sounds of conversation drifted to their ears. The crowd assembled in front of the auditorium stage was large and rather noisy. Everything from excited squeals to nervous whispers. The pair took their first steps into the mass of people, side by side they shuffled along the back wall to make their way to a farther spot from the stage. Jaune slowed slightly and she matched him as they both saw an excitable redhead making wild gestures at her calm and stoic friend. _'There's Nora and Ren.'_ she thought before scanner hey eyes over the rest of the crowed. His slow pace was halted however as the girl beside him stopped entirely.

"Yaaaaaang!" Her gaze was set over at a very familiar pair. The elder sibling quite obviously teasing her flustered younger sister. A feeling of melancholy washed over her as she witnessed the two of them so happy and carefree, untouched by the tragedies that would befall them both. Yang lifted her arm and flexed her bicep making some sort of boastful comment. A small smile tugged at her lips at the sight. She had an urge to go up and talk to them, to wrap her arms around both of them and pull them in to a hug yang would be proud of.

She finally pried her eyes off of the sisters and let her eyes wander even further, looking for a black bow. No such luck however, the cat faunus seemed to be blending into the crowd well. Knowing her, she's probably sitting in some corner reading another one of her books.

A few minutes later, the headmaster finally made his appearance on stage, catching the attention of all the student gathered in the auditorium. "I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." The first time Weiss heard the professor's speech, she didn't really know what to make of it, now however, she understood exactly how accurate his assessment was.

* * *

Professor Ozpin let his gaze linger for a brief moment at the white and golden pair leaning against the far end of the auditorium, the youngest members of his small inner circle. This was an unexpected development indeed. The seasoned huntsman has seen a lot of mystical and frankly 'impossible' events unfold before his very eyes, but this ranked among the most absurd situations he found himself learning about. A pair traveling back in time, chasing after a woman he had long since believed dead. What a day it has been.

He had told the two of them to remain as students and not make any more changes to the time line before they had a better understanding of the events, lest they draw too much attention. It does however give them an advantage in this war, or this coming war he should say. He believes the pair to be fully capable, and strong warriors, he felt the sheer power behind the young mans pulsing aura himself, oddly erratic, most likely caused by the emotional turmoil, which, just as his aura, was easily discerned by the professor's keen eyes. He was certain that the rest of the students could learn a lot from them. But they had to be careful. To better keep their status under wraps, it was agreed on that the pair would partner up during their initiation tomorrow. This change, which is by no means insignificant, is worth the risk as it allows much more freedom when it comes to planning their next moves, less people to keep in the dark and more chances for the pair to communicate. He also plans to have the experienced duo help their eventual teammates, the likes of Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Pyrrha nikos and a few others could learn much from them and could prove vital to their chances at winning this war.

The headmaster was hesitant to involve children in his battles, but desperate times call for desperate measures. He hoped that with their acquired knowledge, this war would not escalate as far as it did in their alternate time line.

Taking another sip of his coffee as he made his way back to his office, he pondered about the story his new arrivals told him. Indeed there was much to think about, much to plan, and much to prepare. The headmaster let out a sigh as he pressed the elevator button which will bring him to his office's floor.

* * *

Jaune was trying to keep his eyes from wandering. He knew that _she_ was here somewhere.

 _Her_ death has made a huge impact on his life and was one of the greatest catalyst for his eventual growth as a person and as a huntsman, and the memories of such a life changing event can't just be null and voided. Don't get him wrong, he has no romantic interest in the redhead, not anymore at least, after all, he has his little fencer whom he loves dearly, but she was still a dear friend who taught him quite a bit back in their short time together. Without her, he probably would have been kicked out of Beacon and lost any chance he had of fulfilling his dream of become a huntsman. The year he spent hunting down Cinder, it was for _her._ Plunging his blade into that woman's body, it was for _her_. And after finally, _finally_ having come to terms with her death, to see her again, alive and well… he didn't trust himself to react appropriately, hell he didn't even know what constitutes as an appropriate reaction for a situation this messed up. So he did his best to keep his eyes down.

He felt a small nudge from his side prompting him to look over. Weiss was looking at him with a concerned expression.

"You ok?" she whispered.

"Fine. Don't worry about it."

"If you say so." She replied hesitantly.

"You will gather at the ballroom tonight, tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." Professor Goodwitch added after the headmaster took his leave from the stage.

The students began to shuffle about, changing into casual clothes and preparing themselves for the night. As all this was going on, the light haired pair still remained at the back of the area.

"Weiss." he started after a while.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry..." he dropped his head.

"For?" her questioning gaze moved to him.

"...I've been an emotional wreck since we got here. No… even before then, when... Pyrrha showed up in the vault. I need to pull myself together. I could have gotten as both killed."

"… You're an idiot." The young man turned to her in surprise. Weiss was no stranger to loss, she witnessed Blake die to Adam's blade as they got there too late to help their rouge friend. She saw Ruby crippled in a wheelchair having taken a blade to the spine which left her paralyzed from the waist down, she saw so many innocent people die as wars ravaged villages, towns and cities. She watched good people lose their lives on the battlefield. All of those though, were small when stacked against what the knight beside her went through. Jaune felt the loss of his partner, his dear friend. Saw Ruby's fall, powerless to prevent the blade that pierced her back. He witnessed Ren's death with his very eyes, saw how the happy Nora deteriorated into a husk of depression. He had to take care of his last remaining teammate, who, for the longest time, wouldn't eat nor speak after her partner's death. The young knight came rushing to save his village only to break down the door to his burning home and see the mangled corpses of his siblings, only two of his seven sisters making it out alive. His parents not too far away, fallen on the front lines of the failed village's defense. He forced himself to wear a mask to hide all the pain for the sake of his remaining siblings and the rest of the men and women who depended on him, even in the face of the village's survivors, who blamed him for failing to protect them. He lived with the guilt, believing what happened to Ruby was his fault, that his village fell because he was too slow, too weak that if only he'd been stronger, he could have saved them all. She still had Winter, her team from Atlas also made it out of the battles mostly unscathed, her Father, although not the most loving parent, was still there to help her when she truly needed it, even after she denounced his company and left for Vale. For a time however, Jaune was alone, the last member of team JNPR on the battlefield. It would be obvious to anyone that seeing the people dear to him, knowing that they were alive and well would have a much greater impact on him that it could even possibly have on her. The emotions he was feeling must be running wild. Any lesser man would have succumbed, but Jaune held strong. When she finally joined the Brotherhood and was assigned as his new partner, she was determined to show the blonde that he was not alone, not anymore. The statement still rings true now, _he was not alone_ , she would make sure he knew that.

She reached out and flicked his forehead.

"Don't carry this by yourself, and don't think you're alone. Cause you're not. I'm your partner, in every sense of the word. So let me share your burden." she looked at him with bright, honest eyes. And Jaune couldn't help the small smile the crept on his face.

"Thank you Weiss." he finally managed as he once again leaned back on the wall. As the delved into a comfortable silence.

"So.. about the mark, what do you think?" Weiss asked sounding suddenly rather excited and Jaune could only chuckle. It was quite obvious that his little princess was trying ti change the topic.

"Back when you first joined, the prospect of getting a tatoo to mark your membership appalled you. Now you're… giddy about it..." he commented with a fond smile.

"Well, it marks something we're both a part of. And I've grown rather fond of it"

"I still can't believe the _prim_ and _proper_ Weiss Schnee decided to get her's right behind her ear. One of the most obvious places considering you always tie your hair. Though I'll have to agree, it looked rather good on you."

"Right?!" the Schnee asked with hushed excitement.

"Can't have it in such an obvious place this time though, remember, can't let the big bad boss lady figure out who we are and that we followed her."

"Does she even know what those marks mean?" She asked with a small pout.

"Can't take any chances."

"Once she notices things aren't proceeding as they should, she will probably figure out someone chased after her. It'll only be a matter of time."

"Probably… though she won't know who."

"hmm… so I'll probably get it where you had yours."

"Then you won't be able to wear strapless dresses anymore."

"If push comes to shove I can cover it with make up for special occasions. It shouldn't be a problem, my school uniform covers it, so does this," she motioned to her short bolero. "besides, I've gotten so used to our much longer jackets that I was thinking of getting a new outfit anyway. You?"

"Eh.. I'll have it where it used to be. Hey, then we can match." he gave her a small smirk.

The other initiates were coming back from their nightly preparations, having showered and changed. Jaune merely gazed at them, it somehow felt nice, peaceful, looking at the number of people bustling about inside the auditorium with tomorrow's initiation being their biggest worry, blissfully unaware of the threat looming just under the horizon.

The pair didn't bother changing into their night clothes, the many over week-long missions in all sorts of deserted places having gotten them used to sleeping anywhere, wearing anything. And besides, Weiss would probably kill him if he wore that onesie his past self packed. With that, the pair made themselves comfortable leaning against the wall, their shoulders just barely grazing as they fell into slumber.

* * *

 _"Seriously, there are still a few running around?!" Ruby complained as the pelting rain did nothing to alleviate the fatigue team JRRN were feeling. They've been outside the walls for several hours now and the sun, hidden behind the thick clouds, didn't seem to be up in the sky for much longer._

 _._

 _Taking a look at his watch, Jaune saw that it was indeed over 5 in the afternoon, and with autumn a good ways in, the days tend to be shorter. It wouldn't be long now before the sky would turn dark. And with this rain, not even the stars nor the shattered mood would be able to provide any form of light._

 _The growling pack of beowolves flitting in and out of the treeline were circling them, looking for opportunities but the group of experienced Beacon fourth years would not give them a chance to strike. The extraction bullhead was well on the way, their leader had already called in the situation a few minutes prior and with daylight fading, they requested a pick up before it got too dark and too dangerous. Leaving the high concentration of grimm unchecked in this weather with almost zero night time visibility right at the edge of a populated village with a segment of its wall damaged was just asking for trouble, a few men stationed on the walls should be enough to deter the odd pack, but with numbers this high it would be much too risky. So here they were, only a few weeks away from graduating, defending a village far to the south, in weather that would make one want to curl up and sleep the day away. The muck and mud were clinging to their boots, puddles gaining depth, making the normally agile group of Huntsmen and huntresses move rather sloppily. Not to mention these conditions were draining their stamina at a rate far greater than normal._

 _The village did not originally have a history of grimm attacks, but recently, a string of murders have been going on in the locals seemed to be frightfully on edge. The local authorities have not been able to find any leads and the fear level was rising, attracting more and more grimm to the village walls. The village not only called on them to thin out the grimm population outside but also a specialized huntsman to track down the one responsible for these heinous crimes after the village's guard continued to fail to identify the culprit. There have been three corpses in the past two months_

 _Nora's normally bright white and pink outfit closer to brown and back at this point and Jaune's armor and shield did not fair any better. Ruby had the advantage of wearing dark clothing though both her and Ren were obviously no exempt from the discoloration brought about by the extreme weather conditions._

 _The area has been cleared out for the most part, only a few packs remained in the forest and at this point, team JRRN could call it a day and a mission success. This didn't stop them from alleviating their boredom from waiting for the bullhead to arrive by launching grenades and swinging scythes at the odd packs still roaming the trees on their way to their extraction point._

 _After a few more black corpses dropping to the ground, the four of them finally breached past the treeline and into the clearing. It was wide enough for the extraction aircraft to land without issue._

 _"Bullhead should be here in a bit, might have gotten delayed cause of the weather."_

 _"There are still a few circling the clearing." Ruby called out. She was the first to make it to the clearing and had time to look around to spot the black figured running through the foliage and the red eyes peaking for under the brushes._

 _"There really is a rather large amount, even for a village this isolated." Ren's calm voice conveyed his assessment of the situation._

 _"The murders in the village must have really spooked locals." Nora's still rather chirpy voice called out._

 _A loud gunshot was heard over the downpour as Ruby pulled back the bolt of her favorite weapon to load another round into the chamber. The number of grimm was no considerably lower compared to when they started earlier in the day._

 _"Alright guys, keep the area clear. Make sure the bullhead has a safe place to land. Spread out, but don't stray too far."_

 _"You got it fearless leader!" "Understood" "Gotcha!"_

 _With that, the four of them spread out to form a makeshift square large enough to accommodate their incoming transport. A few beowolves still attempted to attack them but the skill these four have accumulated in their many missions allowed them to cut down the dwindling number of threats with ease. It wasn't long until the distant sound of a dust engine could be heard over the falling rain. The four of them kept their eyes on the treeline sneaking only occasional glances toward the source of the sound to better estimate the duration and distance. Relief finally seeped into their bones as the aircraft got close enough for them to see the pilot through the front windows of the cockpit. No grimm have come out to attack them in the last few minutes and team JRRN were now feeling rather confident that their mission was finally over._

 _"Alright guys, we get on as soon as the hatch op-" time seemed to freeze. Jaune turned around to face Ren directly opposite of his corner of their make shit square. A look of horror adorning both of their faces, though Ren's seemed to have a more distinct addition of both confusion and pain as a large white stalk suddenly found itself protruding from his chest and digging into the earth in front of him. Jaune couldn't breath, he couldn't think. It was only after hearing Nora's panicked shriek and Ruby's frantic yell "Nevermore" that the situation dawned on him. And even yet, he was still unable to move, starting wide eyed at his brother in arm's magenta orbs. A slight slump, a cough, blood falling from his mouth and mixing with the rainwater turning it into a pale red. The earth, too soaked to absorb more of the liquid, was unable to drain away the crimson fluids mixing in with the puddling water._

 _"ne...Jaune…._ Jaune!" _his eyes snapped to the side to meet Ruby's fearful look. "It's coming back." he looked up to see the nevermore circling them. Despite its size, it didn't make any sounds audible over the pelting rain. '_ Ren _…_ Ren will be fine right?… of course he will, he always pulled through.' _Jaune's mind was torn, he wanted to make sure his friend was ok, his brother, but he knew that it was too dangerous to lose focus. Nora already rushed to her partner's side, she will take care of him._

 _"Jaune, we need to kill it. It will take down the bullhead." Ruby added before the pair saw the giant avian grimm pull back its wings to throw out another barrage of feathers._

 _"Ruby, keep it focused on the ground, don't let it attack the bullhead." Jaune ordered as the duo rushed past the landing area to keep the creature away from their means of escape and more importantly, to keep it away from their injured teammate. Ruby kept firing round after round at the bird which did nothing more that annoy it. It was enough to draw its attention however. It finally released its attack and another barrage of feathers zipped through the air at the red and gold pair._

 _"Ruby!" Jaune called as his teammate instantly understood his intention and she ran directly behind him, effectively using him as a human shield._

 _Jaune raised his hand an a soft golden glow radiated from his body. The feathers traveled towards them at impressive speeds but as they got to around a meter in front of the blond knight, they seemed to collide with a golden wall that erected itself in front of them. The pair continued to run head on towards the grimm, Jaune keeping his golden wall active in front of them as they closed the gap towards their target. The black bird descended closer and closer to the ground to most likely attempt a physical attack with is claws or beak, still, Ruby and Jaune dashed forward._

 _As the gap between the two sides of the battlefield closed, Jaune raised his shield and dispelled his wall of aura. "Ruby, up!" a single command, one word, but she understood completely. The young huntsman twisted on his heel to gain momentum as the little reaper jumped up and landed on his shield. A grunt and a massive shove, coupled with the young huntress' semblance launched Ruby into a black and red blurr, and with a massive arc, little red embedded Crescent Rose in the underside of the bird's throat, the narrow tip of the scythe poking out the other side of its neck. The grimm managed a few more gurgling sounds before it crashed into the mud. It took a few more seconds before its corpse started to disintegrate. The pair didn't even bother to look at their handy work rushing towards their fallen teammate as soon as then hit the ground._

 _The bullhead had managed to land in the short time that they engaged the nevermore and the pilot seemed to try and apply first aid. The bloody stalk of the bird's feather was discarded off to the side as it also started to dissolve into black mist, most of the red liquid already being washed away by the continuous downpour. Nora managed to carry the shivering and pale Ren into the bullhead's hatch as the pilot shuffled about in search of the first aid box he had on board. Ren wasn't looking good. He was deathly pale, his eyes unfocused, blood seeping from the massive hole in large amounts. Jaune and Ruby could only stand by the door and stare at the scene with horrified expressions. The young knight didn't know what to do, he didn't know what he_ could _do. He merely stood dumbly, terrified._

 _"Get in! Move away from the door, we need to get this boy back to Vale!" the man shouted as he jumped into the pilot's seat. That spurred them into motion as Jaune and Ruby jumped deeper into the aircraft just as the hatch began to close._

 _At this point, Ren was struggling to breath, his attempts coming out as a mix of ragged coughs and chokes._

 _"Ren! No Ren please stay with me, don't you dare die on me." Nora was getting hysterical. Clutching onto her partner for dear life. "I won't forgive you if you do! I'll burn your cook books, you hear me?!"_

 _Jaune could feel his own tears mixing in with the rain water clinging to his face. He raised a hand to try and reach out to his teammate only to notice that he was shaking uncontrollably. '_ How could this happen?! _' He clenched both hands into fists and slammed his head against the wall._

 _Ren didn't even make it back to Vale._

* * *

Jaune woken up by his partner trying to bury her face deeper into his shoulder, the first rays of sunlight peeking over the horizon unfortunately directly striking her head through the side window. Despite dawn having passed, the earlier and longer days of summer should still set the current time to about 6 in the morning. He glanced at his scroll to make sure to find a glowing 6:14 displayed on the screen. Initiation starts at 8, and they we're already dressed from the occasion, so he decided he would grant the little fencer some slack and shifted over to help her hide from the early morning sun. The truth was finally starting to set in fully and his mind was now working as it should… for the most part.

Looking over at the slumbering mass of bodies, he spotted all the key people. Ruby and Yang, sleeping near the center of the room, Blake, against the wall to their right, a book lay to her right and a candle stand to her left. Pyrrha not too far from her, curled up in a ball, her red hair sprawled over her pillow. Ren and Nora, side by side right by the windows. A huge smile adorning the bomber's face as she quite obviously was having one of the best dreams of her life. Looking at them was getting easier, he now understood that he could change what happened, he could save them. He let his eyes drift over to his sleeping partner, her hair the color of snow, cheek against his shoulder, the rest of her face trying to hide between himself and the wall behind them. A small smile pulled at his lips as he leaned over and rested his head on top of her's. He would change things. This time, he won't fail, he wouldn't let the world fall a second time, he would make sure his friends had a future they can look forward to.

 **Chapter end.**

 **Hope it lived up to your expectations.**

 **I'd not good at making believable, emotion filled scenes, so I'm sorry if I fail to convey believable reactions to the tragedies and general events in this story, if you have any pointers and tips for this I'd be more than happy to hear them. Tips and pointers for any other flaws you guys can spot, or just general advice to improve my writing style would be very helpful!**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**H** **ello everyone, I'm sorry if I haven't been active at all lately. I was going through some personal issues, lack of motivation to do anything, a few burn outs particularly from college (having only one exam per subject where your entire semester's grade is riding on, containing the entire semester's worth of lessons was rather stressful) the need to prepare of my upcoming Internship semester (writing applications and looking for companies in the right field) and a few other things. I can't really claim to have been that busy though so the fact that I haven't been updating is not really caused by lack of time. Like I mentioned before, its more of a lack of motivation. I had no intention of dropping the stories but when I tried to write more the words just didnt seem to want to flow naturally. Every paragraph felt forced and unclean so I decided to take it slow. I would much rather release good (relatively good, or at least I hope they are decent) chapters rather than force myself to write shit just for the sake of updating. I've been getting motivation back lately and managed to finish this chapter to what I hope is a decent and passable degree.** **I hope you enjoy it and if it was not up to par please let me know. Any criticism is appreciated and any form of feedback is sure to get me back into the groove of writing. Thanks for the people reading my little story and sorry for those I disappointed and kept waiting.**

 **H** **ere are a few review shoutouts. I'm not sure if can keep doing this every chapter but considering my long period of inactivity I believe this is much deserved.**

 **SweetieSpike** \- thanks for your concern. I appreciate it greatly. As a new writer I have not really felt the motivation to write brought upon by people who read what I write and go out of their way to ask me if I'm ok after my period of inactivity and finally having that really made my day. It means a lot.

 **Operator Blake –** thanks, I'll do what I can to keep this story alive.

 **STARCRUSHER99 –** as someone who leans more to the logical side of things, I try to explain stuff in a way that could make sense. I'm glad that it came across as such.

 **AndreiN00B –** sorry about the missed edit and thanks for the kind words.

 **Enpassant –** I'll try to develop their bond in a way that is believable. It shouldn't be too hard however since they are still classmates.

 **Cabbage cabrera –** sorry for the grammar errors, I tried to make their talk with Ozpin believable. A few fics out there make Ozpin just be "Oh ok!" just like that, I didn't that that would be believable and I did what I thought was best.

 **Theycallmebeanz** – I hope I can keep this story unique in its own right.

 **csad21/Drow79/ChaosRonin/duskrider/Trae/reader101/EzioIspirate -** thanks for the kind words and the interest.

* * *

Headmaster Ozpin had another discussion with the pair prior to initiation to talk about some important details of their situation. Jaune and Weiss had brought up the idea of them leaving Beacon to hunt down their target and chop off the roots before they had a chance to dig themselves into the ground but the professor was against it. 'From what you two have told me, it seems that Beacon will become the final line of defense, the stronghold in this war. I believe you two are more needed here. The school is most likely going to be a prime target. The tower cannot fall.' he had said.

He was right of course. Beacon held the biggest concentration of warriors in Vale. It also housed some of the most skilled huntsman and huntresses of the modern generation. Both Jaune and Weiss now numbering amongst them. Not to mention Ozpin and the rest of the professors. But more importantly, it held some of the best and brightest young trainees, the next generation of Remnant's protectors. Needless to say, the academy would be a prime target for anyone hoping to throw the world into disarray and the pair could not argue.

It was also where one of the four Cross Continental Transmit Towers was built. Jaune remembered the first time the tower fell and broke communication between the kingdoms. The design of the towers did not allow the other three to operate once one tower went down so the fall of Beacon Tower messed up the network between the remaining kingdoms.

Jaune asked if Ozpin had called Qrow back to Vale but the headmaster decided to keep the veteran huntsman out in the field. This time line most certainly held alterations to the original with the changes the pair, and Salem, had made and are sure to make. Another valid point.

After finishing up their brief talk, the pair made their way to the elevator which would bring them down to the base of the tower. The main doors slid open as they walked out into the large courtyard connecting Beacon tower with all the other surrounding buildings and facilities.

Turning right, they made their way to the combat arena building. Pushing open the double doors, they passed several students as well as a few fellow initiates. They walked passed several doors leading to the few training rooms housed in this building to reach the very end of the hall where they were greeted by another set of double doors, these ones were smaller, gray in color and contained small windows in its upper half, leading them into the school's fairly large locker room.

Jaune and Weiss looked over the rows and columns of lockers arranged around the walls and moved to the designated rocket propelled storage unit assigned to them. The young knight lazily made his way to locker 636, knowing exactly where it was, having used the same unit for four years as a student at Beacon. Weiss needed a bit more time to look around given the eight year gap from when she last entered this room. The front panel hissed open after Jaune typed in the correct security code which was written on a piece of paper given to him by the Beacon staff. He mentally noted to change it later to the more comfortable sequence of digits he had assigned it in the previous time line. The opened door clicked as it reached its maximum opening angle and the young knight gazed at the sword and shield hanging from the back wall.

He had his old weapon with him yesterday when he woke up on the transport ship, but his mind was too preoccupied to really _look_ at the old family heirloom of a blade. Most of the memories he had of the battles and wars were with his new, more modern pair of long swords, the dark bladed Arondight, and the much lighter colored Excalibur. He couldn't really forget about the old Arc blade though, it was where everything started after all. From Crocea Mors, to the Excalibur and Aegis, finally ditching the shield in favor of his semblance and adding Arondight to his arsenal. He remembered forging the blade Excalibur and the kite shield Aegis with Ruby in his third year and adding Arondight a few months after Ruby's incident as a way to keep her mind off things.

Crocea Mors was a good sword, no doubt about it, but it was never truly _his_. He raised his hand and let his finger glide over the polished surface. He stole the blade from his father's armory the night he left home. How foolish, a child with absolutely no formal training, trying to make a name for himself in the world of huntsmen and huntresses, completely absorbed in the magnificent stories of knights and heroes, Ignorant and driven by mere _fairy tales_. He really was foolish back then. Thinking back, it truly was a miracle that he made it this far. He'd decided that it would be for the best if he forged his new blades earlier, maybe even use it as an excuse to talk to Ruby. His seventeen year old body might need a bit more physical training to wield two heavy longswords one handed each but his was confident enough in his semblance to no longer truly need a shield. He'd send Crocea Mors back home, back to its true owner. It had served him well in the short 2 years he'd used it. He'll wield it for initiation, then he'll send it back, to where it belongs.

Reaching into the compartment, he closed his fingers around the blue leather wrapped around the hilt, its golden pommel peaking out above his thumb. He pulled out the blade and its shield and strapped it onto his belt. His Aegis was a lot heavier. He'd thought about attaching it to his back where he was more used to equipping his weapons, but that would be impractical given the sheath's ability to transform into a shield. The set clicked into place on his belt and the blond closed his locker's door.

Weiss managed to find her own storage compartment after a short while of pacing and pulled out Myrtenaster. Her favored rapier didn't change much nine years into the future. It matched her fighting style, specially forged just for her, therefore she did not feel any need to alter anything about the blade. She clipped the weapon to her waist and reached deeper into the metal box to grab the small pouch lying on one of the locker's shelves. She used to pouch to hold her dust rounds. She used to be extremely picky about what dust she used but the difficult trials she went through in the years past graduating opened her eyes to the need to be content with what one has and to make the most out of it. She pulled out a cartilage and gazed the bright and pure blue glow it was emitting. _'What a waste._ ' Second and third class dust worked just fine for combat use where specific heat levels or voltages were not necessary and the massive price difference just did not justify the performance gap between first grade and second grade dust. Granted, the lower one goes down the quality scale, the less effective the dust became and there is a point where the combat effectiveness of low grade dust and the unreliability of it could hinder huntsmen and huntresses in a life or death situation, the mid to mid-high tiers of quality were more than enough if destruction was the main goal where the absolute first grade dust was just overkill more used for industrial applications under carefully controlled environments. She returned the bullet back into her pouch just in time to see Jaune walk over, fully ready for initiation.

The pair could hear Yang and Ruby conversing about how the young reaper needed to break out of her shell… something about milk too, meanwhile, Pyrrha was standing in front of her locker alone. Weiss felt like the scene gave her a sense of wrongness. Whe glanced up to her partner to see him gazing at the redhead. She was certain that Pyrrha standing there alone looking rather lonely made him want to call out to her. In their original time-line, both Weiss and Jaune would be over there talking to her. The blonde's obliviousness to the champions identity a reason as to why he caught her attention. Jaune merely walked past her however, looking rather down as they made their way back out through the same set of doors.

"We'll get to talk to her eventually." The young Schnee said.

"That's actually what I'm afraid of." Weiss did not really have a response to that.

Professor Goodwitch's voice came out of the overhead speaker as she instructed the first years to make their way to the cliffs.

* * *

"For years you have trained to become warriors," Professor Ozpin started "and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

The first year initiates were placed on platforms on the edge of a cliff overlooking the forest beneath. Jaune couldn't help but chuckle as he remembered the first time he got launched into the air, how Pyrrha pinned him to a tree. Zero training and no aura, it was a miracle he survived that at all. Now though, Jaune was quite used to falling from high places. Getting into the middle of a packed battlefield with no place for dustplanes or bullheads to land brought about the necessity to be able to drop from far up without aid. Some cases did not even offer any form of breaking ones fall leaving him with nothing but his aura and his semblance to stop him from ending up as a large red blotch in the middle of the war zone.

The young knight glanced at the platform beneath his feet, the Beacon Sigil proudly marking the iron surface.

Ozpin had asked them both to serve as some form of mentors to the other talented first years in this batch and for that, he needed to gain their respect. The Beacon professors observed the initiation through cameras dotting all over the forest, but Ozpin made sure that the footage was kept from the public eye. There have been a few cases of initiates dying during initiation and as such, the files concerning the recording was not broadcast. The headmaster has assured them both that whatever they chose to reveal in the forest would be kept from prying eyes, all aside from the Beacon faculty as well as the people on site. Even so, Jaune had no intention of revealing all his skills just yet. He won't show them much, but he'd show them enough to get their attention.

Professor Goodwitch was explaining the rule on how each pair is decided, a rule he frankly didn't really understand, how was eye contact a logical means of deciding on who gets partnered up with whom and how well the pair could work together? He kept his thoughts to himself however, it did work out before. Ruby and Weiss was probably the biggest disaster of a pair but they worked through their differences and became a solid pair after only a single year.

Looking over the large expanse of forest beneath them, Jaune thought about what was to come. The plan was simple, meet up with Weiss before anyone else finds them. He'll be the first to admit that it's not exactly the most structured plan they ever came up with, but considering they have the skills and knowledge rivaling even the most experienced of huntsmen, it shouldn't really pose much of a problem. He did wonder about the other pair that would be joining them in their team. He really hoped to avoid Pyrrha. Ruby, Ren and Nora were also rather risky, he knew them too well. Sigh. He wondered if Weiss had the same thoughts running through her mind.

He glanced over to his left where the white haired girl in question was taking her position on her own platform. Her left foot forward, her center of gravity low, her stance solid. Ruby was beside her, her face torn between panic and desperation.

The two professors in front of them finished their explanation and the initiates were launched into the forest one by one.

Jaune felt the ticks of the gears whirring beneath his feet and the sudden rush of the wind as the spring-loaded platform underfoot released all its built up energy and shot him into the skies. He focused his gaze on the ground as he quickly gained altitude. The rushing wind was blowing against his eyes, but he long since got used to the feeling. He had learned the hard way not to close them while airborne. He slowly curled in on himself until he ended up looking like he was crouching in mid air, before he channeled his semblance through the soles of his feet. The young knight was about to erect a disk beneath his boots to increase the surface area and reduce his velocity when a white glyph suddenly materialized in front of him. He raised a brow at the familiar platform but stepped on it to slow his descent nonetheless. Two more platforms materialized, one directly in from of his current flight path, the other slightly to the left. He landed on the first and used to it angle himself to land on the second.

He smirked slightly as the next pair of glyphs materialized side by side. Stretching out his legs to absorb the remaining inertia he landed on the semi invisible surface right before a white streak perched herself on the twin platform beside him.

"Well that's one way to make sure we end up as partners." he commented as they continued their series of hops leading them to the ground below.

"Its practical, no risk of getting separated." The heiress replied as she landed on the soft grass of the Emerald Forest with a small thud.

The pair took a look around, trying to familiarize themselves with the area around them.

"The temple should be that way. I saw the ruins before we landed." Jaune said as he extended his arm to point at the direction in question.

"Alright, lets get to it then." the young Schnee replied as she took the lead, walking through the tree trunks and swatting away low hanging branches.

The sound of loose twigs crunching beneath there footwear was the only sound that traveled to their ears. It was eerily quiet but it didn't take long before the distant sound of gunfire echoed through the forest.

"You think Ruby would still want to get on that nevermore without you leading her in the wrong direction?" he asked teasingly as they made their way towards the sounds of battle.

"Hmpf you think we'll still have to deal with the deathstalker without you walking into its nest?" she shot back. At this, Jaune raised his eyebrows and looked as if he was struck by an epiphany.

"Maybe we should aggravate it on purpose." The blonde started making Weiss look at him strangely. "Hey, it'll make a statement if we take it down with just the two of us. It should be enough impress a group of first years." Jaune mentioned with a slight grin.

"You know, when you were labeled as 'The Grand Tactician', I am fairly certain it was _not_ because of plans like these." the young Schnee comment off-handedly.

"Oh come on, what's the harm? Both of us can take down a grimm of that level by ourselves with ease." Jaune seemed far to happy with this plan if the heiress were to be asked. His started to march away from the ruins with a slight spring in his step. Weiss could only sigh and follow along.

* * *

Blake looked at the group of people gathered before the temple. First was her partner, Yang she said her name was, next was Yang's sister who somehow fell from the sky and her partner, the famous Pyhrra Nikos who dropped in after her. A little to their left was a very bubbly and far too energetic redhead whose name she overheard to be Nora who rode into the clearing on the back of a quite frankly terrified looking ursa, and her partner whose name Nora cheerfully called out to be Ren.

With her eyes trained onto her fellow initiates, Blake was rather startled when a blond and white haired pair dashed out from the forest into the clearing with a massive deathstalker on their tail. Her partner was standing beside her with a similarly startled expression. She recovered quickly however and she, along with everyone else on site, moved into their battle stances.

The blond boy turned on his heel as soon as they broke into the clearing and raised his shield. A warm whitish-gold glow surrounded his body and coated his shield as he bent his knees. The grimm continued its charge at its now stationary prey, closing the gap at an impressively fast pace courtesy of its eight powerful legs. The small group of her and her soon to be classmates were still too far away to assist the blonde who's distance to the massive scorpion was shrinking rapidly. All Blake could do was fill her lungs with air and attempt to should a 'watch out'.

What happened next however forced the words of warning she was about to yell out back down her throat and made all their jaws drop to the ground, metaphorically of course.

With a few more rapid and wide steps from its numerous limbs, the deathstalker was on him, slamming claws first into his shield. The loud thud that followed the impact made her bones rattle as the deathstalker instantly lost forward momentum and slammed its massive pincers onto the blonde's shield as if it were a solid wall. The lithe girl with him slid under the giant beasts belly and rapidly stabbed her rapier in and out its underside, like a needle on a sewing machine.

The pained screech coming from the grimm hurt her sensitive ears. The beast wound up its stinger and stabbed it down at the young knight in panic and pain. The young man simply spun out of the way allowing the stinger to stab into the ground where he was previously standing before continuing his spin, unsheathing his sword, and cutting through the limb that held the glowing point to the rest of its body in one fluid mostion. The steel blade cut through the black flesh and bone with ease.

The screeching grew louder as the stinger remained embedded in the ground and the stump it was previously connected to whipped wildly through the air spraying black grimm blood everywhere. The pair didn't even look the slightest bit fazed, as if this was merely a minor annoyance, as if they do this everyday.

The girl in white seemed to skate on the terrain, quickly moving out from under the creatures mass before leaping into the air.

Blake's eyes widened as she saw glyphs form under her feet to the side and above the now severely wounded foe. _'A Schnee!'_ she yelled internally, recognizing both the white hair and the trademark glyphs, not to mention the family sigil on the back of the young girls bolero jacket. She moved with such ease and grace as she landed on top of the boney white armor covering the deathstalker's back. Once again her rapier was raised and an icy blue glow coated the blade. She speared it through a large red eye, all the way down down to its base before large crystals of ice tore out of its head and through its body.

It took less than a minute before the massive deathstalker was taken down so effortlessly by the pair in front of her.

They sheathed their weapons and slowly turned toward their small group of spectators. The looks on their faces remaining completely neutral.

Their calm expressions slipped somewhat, however, once they saw the people gathered there. It was barely noticable, but with Blake's keen eyesight she caught the slight gulp, the slight twitch of their lips as if they were forcing the neutrality and nonchalance of their appearance.

This confused Blake even further. And somehow, they were giving her an uncomfortable vibe. _'This pair is dangerous'_ she mentally noted.

* * *

"He-Hey guys!" he mentally kicked himself for the slight stutter. "Are you guys going through initiation as well?" The group just stared at him. Again, another kick. They were here at the temple holding on to the relics they were tasked to collect, not to mention they all lined up at the launch pads. "uhh-".

"Hello everyone." Weiss spoke up, having had enough of her partner's hopelessness. Weiss curtsied before she continued. "I apologize for my partner's social skills, or should I say, lack thereof." she gazed pointedly at Jaune before returning her attention to the group before them. "My name is Weiss Schnee, I am pleased to make your acquaintances." she expectantly turned to her partner as she finished hoping he could follow along.

"Oh! Yeah, hello! Uh- I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc." he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck trying to show the friendliest smile he could muster. This was a lot more uncomfortable than he was expecting.

He could see Yang raise a brow at them. There was a brief moment of silence before she finally responded to their introduction.

"I'm Yang." and with that, everyone else started to introduce themselves as well.

It was an odd feeling for both Jaune and Weiss, watching their old friends alive and well, re-introducing themselves as strangers. Not finding any recognition in their eyes.

A loud screech caught everyone's attention as the giant nevermore circled them from above.

"Ruby, I think we made it angry." Pyrrha voiced out.

Jaune heard a sigh from beside him and looked over to see Weiss with her hand on her face. _'Some things never change.'_

The fact that Ruby still somehow managed to aggravate the grimm was amusing him more than anything and a small smite crept up on his face.

* * *

The auditorium was filled with people from the new freshmen waiting sidestage to the more senior students occupying the main floor and upper deck seats. All students were require to attend the post initiation ceremony to welcome the new wave of Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training.

Weiss looked around and couldn't help the slight smile that tugged on her lips. It felt warm. The first initiation ceremony she attended was in Beacon where team RWBY was formed. Many years ago if her memory was to go by. The next ones were in Atlas where attendance was also mandatory. But Atlas, with its military integrated with both its government and its academy, was strict, organized, and professional. So much so that the atmosphere of any celebration held there seemed forced and impersonal. Where your outburst have to be measured, you cheers kept to yourself and whether you sat or stood was decided by the organized program. As suck, the heiress found the loud cheers were really welcoming.

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark," Ozpin Started, pulling the fencer's attention away from the crowd. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team CRDL, led by." a slight pause. "Cardin Winchester!" another round of applause.

Weiss watched the four CRDL members leave the stage before the members of Jaune's old team plus Ruby made their way up to the headmaster. The pictures of the previous team's members faded away to be replaced with portraits of Ruby, Ren, Nora and Pyrrha which prompted a louder cheer than the ones before it. Weiss could even make out Pyrrha's name out of the mix of voices. The crowd quieted down as the headmaster spoke up again.

"Ruby Rose, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, the four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team PLVR, led by." cue another pause. "Ruby Rose"

 _'Pulve_ _r...Pulvis...Dust, how appropriate.'_ the young Schnee pondered as her own new team took their turn to walk up to the professor.

"Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc and Yang Xiao Long," this time whistling was mixed in with the cheers. "the four of you have retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as, team ABYS. Led by Jaune Arc." the headmaster concluded.

Weiss turned to look at her partner to see him gazing at the screen displaying their team's portrait and name. His gaze was sharp and she could see the clear resolve in his deep blue eyes.

* * *

 _Loud thumps could be heard reverberating against the tall trees in the emerald forest. The blonde knight had been going at it for hours now, striking against the trunks as if they were imaginary foes. His sword and shield long discarded unto the soft grass, opting to make contact with the thick bark with his bare hands. His knuckles were bloody, skin tearing up quicker than his aura could mend it. The rest of his limbs didn't fair any better, cuts and gashes littering his arms and legs as he changed forms from closed fist to open palm. After performing a quick combination of hits, he changed styles again, attacking the trees with elbows and knees, lifting his foot and spinning his heel horizontally against the hard surface._

 _He wasn't using his aura to reinforce his body, he didn't want to. Pain was good. Pain kept his mind busy, kept it from thinking too much._

 _"Don't you think your overdoing it? You should stop." a worried voice called to him from between torn up tree trunks._

 _He didn't answer, just kept on going._

 _"Hey, don't ignore me!"_

 _Once again, no response. His eyes trained at the next unsuspecting piece of living wood to meet its demise. He pulled back his arm, ready to once again smash his bloody hand into the rough and jagged bark before a black blur crossed his vision. His arm was promptly knocked aside as a small fist was jabbed into his gut._

 _Jaune felt the air rush out of his lungs as Ruby's knuckles dug further into his abdomen. His knees weakened but he kept himself standing upright, leaning some of his weight against his red and black clad teammate. His head right beside hers as she held them both up._

 _"What the hell was that?" he angrily managed to choke out in between coughs as he tried to suck air back into his lungs._

 _"I told you to stop." Her soft voice spoke into his ear which was pressed directly against her cheek._

 _After a few more seconds, he managed to regain his breathing and took a few steps away from the little reaper._

 _"What do you want?" he asked in a distant voice._

 _"I know it hurts. Ren was my teammate too. For four whole years, from our hunt for Cinder up to now, he's been with us. He's been the one to keep us in check, the calm voice of the team. The guy who kept both of us from rushing in head first to get ourselves killed." her voice was rising. "He wasn't the most outspoken person, but he cared for us. You're not the only one mourning his loss. It hurts for me too, and it hurts even more for Nora!" She was practically yelling at him now._

 _Jaune looked down unto the grass between his feet._

 _"But this," she continued, gesturing to the destruction around them. "this isn't healthy!"_

 _"Who cares if-"_

 _"I care!" she yelled before he could get out another word. "Ren would care! He wouldn't want this!"_

 _"Ren is_ dead _!" Ruby looked at him with a hard gaze. Jaunes own eyes widened slightly as he realized what he'd said before returning his gaze back to the grass covered forest floor, an angry scowl adorning his face._

 _Silence._

 _"Ruby I-"_

 _"You're right. Ren is dead. But don't sully his memory." her reply came in a chilling voice. And the young knights gaze snapped up to meet hers._

 _"I would never-"_

 _"You're trying to make it easier by burying yourself in whatever shit this is. You're trying to keep your mind from thinking of him." Her tone was even, but the underlying fury was clearly on display, shining through her silver eyes. "He deserves so much better than to be cast aside, treated as a painful memory better left forgotten. You of all people should understand, he was like your own brother!"_

 _Jaune had no words to reply. He wasn't doing what Ruby was claiming was he? He would never forget Ren. His brother in arms. The man who understood him best. he.. he wasn't right?… right?_

 _"It's alright to grieve, to cry. He was family." the little reaper continued. "What's not alright is for you to forget him." another pause "You haven't visited his grave yet, have you?"_

 _Jaune didn't reply. She was right, he hadn't. How could he, the pain and the guilt were too fresh._

 _"You should go. Talk to him, pay your respects."_

 _Jaune tilted his head back and closed his eyes. 'talk to him? Have a nice conversation with a_ gravestone _? To a spirit watching from above? From some damn 'afterlife'?' The knight would have laughed if it weren't so damn painful. The young knight stopped believing in such silly things like life after death. Those were stories told be those who were too afraid to face the finality of death._

 _Sometimes he wished he could believe in such naive tales again. Might make the pain easier to bear._

 _"No matter what you might believe, I think it'll do you some good." and with that, she walked away, leaving him to stand in the middle of the forest alone._

* * *

 **Chapter end. Thanks for reading. Lemme know your thoughts!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Flawed again here with another DoT update. I wanna apologize for this chapter's length. I have written a bit further than this but the scene change, and more importantly, the mood change clashes significantly with the general feel I wanted to achieve with this chapter so I decided to cut it short rather than either one, ruin the feel, or two, force myself to add unnecessary details just to get the world count up there. I think the chapter turned out decent enough. Still though, this chapter was pretty hard to write as I was trying to set a foundation to the bond each of the character on team ABYS currently have with each other. I was kind of forced to add a Cinder scene because I felt uncomfortable cutting in a short time skip from evening to morning with nothing but a horizontal divider line. I hope it didn't ruin the chapter.**

 **Anyway, as a guy (not sure if this is a decent excuse) I'm not too sure how well I can convey emotions and emotional scenes so this is partly practice for that as well and would hope to receive some feedback on how well (or how horribly) I did and what I could do to make the scenes more heartfelt and more believable without making it cringe worthy. I'm still new to this and want to use this story not only as a way to give you guys something interesting and enjoyable to read (I hope at least that it's getting the job somewhat done.) but also as a way to practice and learn and improve my writing so I can better convey my thoughts and ideas in the future.**

 **Another important thing, I don't have each scene set in stone and some details might clash with one another (main plot is solid of course I mean more little things like order in which they are sitting or colors of some stuff). I might fail to remember these tiny things in perfect detail and I might describe them wrongly in following scenes and if its not too much of a bother I would greatly appreciate someone just pointing them out so I can correct them.**

 **we've hit** **104 Faves and 166 Follows as of the posting of this chapter and I extremely grateful to you all! I did not think it would blow up like this when I first started and am extremely honored to have caught you guy's attention with my little story.**

 **here are another few shoutouts:**

 **Yoh Narukami – thanks for your reviews. I really took them to heart and have tried to change my writing style appropriately. These are the type of comments that motivate me to improve and try to get things better in succeeding chapters. I tried to convey more emotions, hopefully there are more believable than they were in the previous chapters. I made sure my paragraphs were not too large and tried to keep a good balance. I'll try to address their relationship with their old friends in the next chapters. I can see what you mean with the potential of certain scenes not used to the fullest (Pyrrha showing up and the Nevermore fight) I'll do my best to add to the tension and action in future scene such as those and try to give the readers a sense of excitement while reading (if I can somehow pull that off). Once again thanks for the review and I hope I met your standards at least to an extent.**

 **TheNiemand/** **SweetieSpike/Warhawk'42/Fayari/Cabbage cabrera/desdelor97 – thanks for the interest in the story and the kind words. I hope continue to manage to write stuff you enjoy.**

 **Lordofthenight97 – I'm sorry that you feel that way. I just don't find crocea mors very practical. I'll try to make the reveal of his new swords as hype as I can tho and I hope I can still keep your interest in the story.**

 **Dragoon109 – I see what you mean and I hope I successfully managed to address that issue in this chapter.**

 **Thanks for the interest and the comments guys**

 **Final pre-chapter words: now that character short was awesome! I'm really hyped for volume 4 now and can't wait to see how Miles and Kerry will lead the show into the future, of course following the path Monty paved for the series. I like the look and feel that Maya gives off when compared to Poser and I'm looking forward to see more of the style as well as more of the story.**

 **Anyway, without further ado, chapter 4!**

* * *

 **Chapter Start**

* * *

"So, Ruby and I just basically swapped." Jaune whispered to Weiss as he lay sideways over his previously neat covers.

The heiress kept quiet as she sat, facing him, atop her own bed. The pair was alone for the moment. Blake was currently taking a shower in the bathroom and Yang was across the hall returning an odd, round pillow to Ruby.

"I feel kind of bad for splitting Ruby and Yang up." the blonde added, bringing his arm up to cover his eyes. It was late in the afternoon now with initiation, the accompanying ceremony and another meeting with the headmaster have taken up most of the day. The darker orange hued rays of sunlight were flitting through the large window situated right between Weiss and Yang's beds in the center of the back wall. The sole window in their dorm room.

It was peaceful, much more peaceful than he ever remembered it being.

He let out a long, drawn out breath as he felt the bed shift slightly. He lowered his arm down to rest it on his stomach and gazed up at Weiss who now sat beside him and was giving him a small smile. The little fencer reached down to move a few bangs out of his face, the soft pads of her finger grazing his forehead.

Jaune grasped her digits lightly in his own and rubbed his thumb on the tips. He smirked slightly.

"I don't quite recall you're fingers being so free of callouses." he regarded the pale skin. He paused slightly, just staring. "Such innocent hands."

"You're one to talk."

"Hey, I did a lot of chores back home." he raised his own hand to her face. "Lifting in particular. As one of only two men in the family, if there was something heavy to carry, its usually dropped on my back." he added, his knuckles grazing her cheek.

"Much like a pack mule." Weiss shot back, an amused glint in her eyes as she leaned in slightly into his touch.

Jaune frowned at the comparison. He lowered his lids and let out another sigh. "Yes, much like a pack mule."

The pair's attention was drawn by the click of the bathroom door opening. A freshly showered Blake stepped out, her hands buried in a large towel as she dried the lower half of her hair. Despite this, her stubborn black bow was still perched atop her head. She came to an abrupt stop as she regarded the duo in front of her.

"Umm. Am I interrupting something?" she asked slowly.

Jaune moved to sit up and lowered his hand down unto the bed. "Not at all. So Blake," he called her testingly, as if speaking her name for the first time. "how do you like Beacon so far?"

The Blonde knight saw the slight suspicion in her eyes as she slowly made her way to her own bed. She sat down and picked up a brush from her nightstand.

"It's nice, I hear they have a large library." she replied as she started to comb through the low hanging strands of hair.

The young knight could only smirk at that. _'Typical Blake.'_

The members of team ABYS haven't had the time to unpack yet and the small pile of their luggage was stashed away in the corner of the room, most of which were silver cases owned by the resident heiress.

Silenced descended into the room. Jaune returned to his earlier position of laying down on his bed and Weiss got up and moved to one of her suitcases.

The locks clicked open and the lid was lifted. The heiress rummaged through her luggage in search of her sleepwear, a plain white nightgown. Zipping open a few more smaller compartments, she pulled out a bottle of shampoo, a tube of toothpaste and her light blue toothbrush. A few more bottles of soaps and conditioners were stashed away in the side pockets but Weiss ignored these.

She made her way to the now unoccupied bathroom. Weiss was all too familiar with the massive amount of time Yang would take and more importantly her tendency to cut ahead whenever it suits her, so the white haired girl saw it fit to get in there, get cleaned up and dressed before the brawler returned from her trip across the hall.

* * *

Weiss peeled off the layers of clothing, setting them aside into one of the laundry baskets to the left of the sink, behind the door. A bit of steam from Blake's earlier shower still lingered and a few droplets of water clung to the curtains by the tub.

The dorm room bathrooms were rather medium in size shaped much like an 'L'. A bath tub that doubled as a shower with beige curtains was positioned at the very end, a sink and a decently sized mirror to the rooms left, the door was right at the back and the all important toilet to the left.

Weiss let out a sigh as she looked at herself in the mirror. It was an odd sight for her, her face much the same but noticeably younger. Her right arm made of flesh and bone, instead metal and plastic. She let her eyes trail over her nude body, free from the scars and burns she had collected over the years.

Her skin was pristine and unmarred, she tilted her head to the left to look at the pale skin of her neck and shoulder. She lifted her hands and rubbed her thumb against the tips of her fingers. Jaune was right, 'such innocent hands'. But it was more than that. Her entire body was free from the horrors of war, innocent.

Even a day after, everything still felt surreal. Like a massive dream. She ran her palm across the mirror to wipe away the condensed moisture that stuck it its surface to meet her own eyes through the now cleared part of the glass and finally found some familiarity. Her eyes were the same. Her flesh might not remember the wounds nor the pain, but her eyes, the portal to her very soul, remembered everything.

The heiress broke eye contact with herself as she stepped over to the tub to start her shower, one she desperately needed.

As the steaming water made contact with her skin, she let her thoughts wander to the events that have come to pass, ones are are still to come, as well as the alterations they have made to the flow of time.

She leaned one hand against the white tiles of the wall right beneath the shower and bowed her head. She could feel her muscles relaxing from the heat.

Weiss was slightly frustrated by professor Ozpin earlier. Jaune and herself had another talk with him right after the ceremony and despite the heiress' instance that something be done, the headmaster was adamant about waiting and preparing. Granted, she wouldn't want them to act out like general Ironwood would have, with guns blazing in a testosterone filled display of military power, but she still expected the Beacon headmaster to react more actively. Send out squads to investigate known enemy hideouts, or look for known collaborators, _something._

Their situation allowed for a massive advantage of information yet professor Ozpin did not wish to act on it and Weiss couldn't understand why. she'd have argued more if it weren't for her partner stopping her. It surprised the heiress even more when she looked over the blonde knight and saw him nod his head purposefully in agreement. The look in his eyes, she saw it several times before.

From what she had learned from the general, as well as from professor Goodwitch upon her introduction to the brotherhood, was that Ozpin was apparently a very wise and strategic man, showing a sense of tactical cunning, planning several moves ahead to a point where his actions would not make sense to most. She would most likely doubted such a thing if it were not for the very same trait clearly on display in the actions of her own partner several times in the span of their involvement with the inner circle.

Her thoughts wandered to the blonde knight. 'The Grand Tactician' people had called him. Most were doubtful at first, hostile even, as a younger man was granted authority to coordinate groups of older and more experienced huntsmen and huntresses. It didn't help that some of Jaune's orders did not make any sense. The oddest locations to plant explosives, the stationing of the men in awkward formations, what seemed to most as a nonsensical and purposeful destruction of terrain, and more, all to prep the battlefield for the most ideal conditions against hoards of grimm, conditions that no one but him had even thought about. But as the chips fell into place, as one thing led to the next and the limited number of men under his command won one battle after another against terrible odds with efficiency and decisiveness, it didn't take long for him to earn the trust and the respect of the people who served under him. It also helped that Jaune was in the middle of every battle, leading the charge and displaying both his intellect and his strength on the battlefield. Indeed how far he had come from the mess he was during their first year at Beacon.

* * *

It didn't take long for Yang to return to the ABYS room, still yelling over her should as she walked across the hall before entering her own dorm.

"Hello, new teammates." she called out, dragging out the 'o' as she shut the door behind her. She had mixed feelings about not being on the same team as her younger sister. On one hand, she was saddened a bit by it, not that she's very far with their dorms just across the hall from one another but even so, the blonde brawler somehow wished she were there to keep an eye on her. On the other hand, she was happy for her, this way she could make some friends on her own, without her having to act as mediator. She shifted her eyes to and fro between the other two occupants of the room before the sound of running water caught her attention.

"Weiss is taking a shower." her team leader spoke up as he noticed her gaze on to bathroom door.

"So its occupied huh?" she sighed. "Does she take long?" she asked curiously.

"Depends on her mood to be honest." the blonde knight replied. "I think she'll be there for a while."

Yang pouted slightly before walking further into the room and plopping down on her bed, the third one from the left.

Blake set her brush back down onto her nightstand as she picked up the dark blue book beside it and propped herself up against the wall at the head of her bed. The mysterious girl then proceeded to flip open her book, pull out the bookmark and began to read in silence.

The team came together in their dorm earlier and agreed about the bed placements. Her leader to the very left, then Weisscream, then herself, then her partner Blake. With the window situated between Weiss and Yang's beds.

"So that was quite the thing you guys pulled off against that oversized scorpion." She said, trying to start a conversation with her new teammates.

Honestly, the pair intrigued her. They were most certainly skilled and must have been working together long. Needless to say, what those two had done earlier left a not so subtle impression on not only her, but on everyone that was present.

The brawler turned her head, still lying on the bed, the look at her leader who was sprawled on top of his own mattress much like her. He was staring at the ceiling but that didn't stop her from seeing the small smirk that pulled on his lips. His expression turned neutral quickly enough, however.

"Weiss did most of the work." he replied.

"You stopped a charging deathstalker without even getting pushed back a single centimeter. To us it looked more like it slammed into a solid wall." she shot back as she propped herself up on one elbow.

"Semblances are a wonderful thing then, aren't they?"

"So that was your semblance? Creating walls?" she asked, a tinge of curiosity evident in her voice.

Her new team leader tilted his head back to look at her. Gravity pulling the strands of hair down giving her a clear look at his upside-down face. His smirk returned and she saw a spark of amusement in his clear blue eyes.

"Something like that." was his reply.

"What kind of a vague answer is that?" she grumbled in return.

He returned to his previous position of staring at the ceiling and shrugged his shoulders.

She turned to her dark haired partner and raised a brow at her questioningly, to which she merely raised her shoulders in a small shrug.

Despite reading for the entire duration of her little conversation with her fellow blonde, she still noticed how her mysterious partner would glance up once in a while to look at the sole male member of team ABYS. From the glimpses she caught of the bow wearing student, she seemed rather wary of him. Suspicious. Not that she could blame her. The display of skill and strength the other half of their team displayed was not something typical of students their age, not even the best of them should have been able to do what they did, and with such ease. And the way Jaune gave them orders during the fight against the nevermore, quick thinking, impressive tactics, and a voice the oozed authority. She was well aware that the white and golden pair we're not your typical trainees.

With that thought, Yang mimicked her leader's form on her own bed, spread eagle, as she waited for the white princess to finish with her shower.

* * *

Cinder Fall was not happy, not by a long shot. After their little incident with little red riding hood and that blonde huntress, Roman was able to steer them away from the city and back to the dark walls of their warehouse hideout without attracting any further attention. The call she receive upon arrival, however, was one that made her rather nervous.

Something had gone wrong. Her Queen sounded angry and exhausted, maybe in pain as well. And the orders she gave were quite odd, and very risky considering their lack of information. But she sounded adamant, and Cinder did not question her.

Now, a few days later, Cinder, along with Emerald and Mercury, was progressing their plans in Mistral.

Haven Academy was probably the easiest one to enter without suspicion. Their headmaster, who was indeed a very skilled fighter and someone who is frightening on the battlefield, was also old and rather gullible. A few members of the staff were sharp, but without access to the enrollment files as well as the personal background data, their infiltration should go smoothly. Then, they just play their cards right and join their 'fellow students' to the Vytal Festival Tournament being held in Vale with Beacon Academy as this year's hosts.

Beacon was of course the eventual target. Not only because of the huge populous as well as the massive viewer base for the Festival's Tournament, but also because of its central location as well as the 'other matter' that they still had to deal with.

The huntsman that interrupted their attack on the Fall Maiden was from Vale serving directly under Beacon's headmaster and Salem was confident that there would be where she was held. In their short conversation, she seemed even more sure now then ever.

Regardless, the tone of her Queen's voice made her incredibly uneasy.

* * *

The red lights of the clock on Jaune's nightstand showed a bright 06:00 as he was woken from his slumber. The early morning sun was already trying to breach the barrier that was their dorm room's window curtains.

He didn't get up right away, rather he just lay there, thinking.

His talk with the headmaster went about as well as he was expecting. Weiss demanded action but he knew that their situation was extremely delicate. Their biggest advantage was information. The fact that Salem was not aware that the two of them made it back to this point in time along with her put them in a very advantageous position. That is why they must not be hasty with their actions.

Minor deviations could not feasibly be avoided. Little changes here and there could easily be attributed to the butterfly effect but anything massively noticeable would place a lot of doubt to their situation. This allowed for one shot. One move to catch their enemy off guard.

Hiding their knowledge and skills indefinitely would of course be counter productive, but this key moment is an opportunity to deal significant damage and as such, Jaune agreed wholeheartedly with Ozpin. He just hoped they would not wait too long, to a point where the potential payoff would no longer be worth it.

That being said, all the pair could do now was prepare their teammates as best they could. They have a lot of potential and it is up to the two of them, the people who have seen that potential unlocked before, to guide them to once again help them grow into the huntsmen and huntresses they knew they could could be.

A click of a lock caught his attention as he glanced over at the bathroom door to see Weiss step out, already in her uniform, hair neatly tied to her favored side ponytail. She looked over at him as he swung his legs over the edge of his bed.

Jaune glanced over at the other two still occupied beds. Yang was sleeping spread eagle, her pillow on the floor and her blanket twisted and bundled together. Then he looked over at Blake, curled into a ball under her covers, only the top of her bow clad head peeking out from under the blanket.

The young Arc made his way to their shared closet and pulled out the school uniform they were given and whispering a quiet 'good morning' to his partner. He then walked over to the bathroom and lightly closed the door behind him.

As a guy, it didn't take Jaune very long to slip into his uniform, freshen up, brush his teeth and somewhat organize his hair and he soon stepped out into their dorm.

Weiss was at her desk going through her scroll. Most likely looking through news relating to the thefts in Vale.

"Hey." he called out in a low voice as to not wake up their two sleeping teammates.

Weiss glanced up at him questioningly.

"Wanna get some fresh air?" She gave him a small smile as she transformed her scroll into its more compact form and slid it into her pocket.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

The dorm building's corridors were empty at this time in the morning and the duo found themselves walking up the staircase to the very top floor. They stopped in front of a metal door that led to the flat roof of the building. Jaune turned the knob and walked into the fresh morning air.

The sun was already halfway over the horizon but the scenery painted by the bright orange rays of light was still a sight to behold.

The young knight led his partner to the edge of the rooftop and they plopped themselves down, legs dangling over the edge, shoulders rubbing against each other, their hands on their laps.

"This is where I first trained with Pyrrha." he spoke up. Weiss fingers twitched slightly at this.

"Yeah, I know."

Jaune glanced over at his partner noticing her ever so slight shift in mood.

He reached out and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"Sorry, that wasn't what I meant." she looked up slowly to meet his eyes. "This doesn't change anything. I have many regrets, and I'm sure you have quite a few as well." he started, his arm around her tightening further. "But this isn't one of them. we're in a unique position to change things. To fix our regrets and to change the future for the better." he gave her a bright smile at this. "and I couldn't imagine saving the world with anyone else by my side." he finished as he kissed the top of her head.

Weiss was quiet for a while, absorbing the words he just said, before she too found herself with a big smile on her face.

"You know, you're really cheesy sometimes." she finally spoke up with some mirth in her voice.

"Shut up." he grumbled in return causing her to giggle slightly at him and both resumed looking at the rising sun, now almost all the way past the horizon.

"This is nice." the young heiress took a deep breath "You think we can do it? Stop her?"

"We almost did it before."

"That's just it. We almost did it before, do you think we'll get that lucky again? The last war was so close, a stoke of luck could have swung the favor in either direction."

"We'll do it." his voice was determined, and it somewhat eased her worries, like it usually did. "I want them to be happy, I want all of us to live happy lives. So I refuse to fail."

"It's not a matter of 'refusing to fail'. It's not that simple."

"Of course it isn't, no one said it'll be easy." he looked at her. "Do you trust me?"

At this, her gaze was drawn back to his own. The determination clearly on display in his dark blue eyes and there was no longer any doubt in her mind. "I do."

* * *

"And finally, Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc." _their names got called by the headmaster and the pair made their way up onto the stage, their black cloaks fluttering slightly._

 _The proud Beacon Academy sigil was printed on the left breast pocket of the dark piece of cloth which was loosely draped over their shoulders, its sleeves long enough to hide most of their hands with only the tips of their fingers peeking out._

 _They finally made it to the top where they were greeted by headmaster Qrow and professor Goodwitch, both giving them small smiles. It was customary to have all members of a team come up on stage at the same time to receive their diplomas and by extension their Huntsman Licenses, but seeing as Ruby and Jaune were the only ones left of their old team, it was rather odd to see just two people standing in front of their mentor. Three was not_ that _uncommon, but just two really was rather seldom._

 _Jaune, the leader, stepped up first, taking the rolled up piece of parchment from the deputy headmistress before shaking her hand._

" _Congratulations Mr. Arc. You have come a long way. it's been a journey watching you grow." her expression saddened. "Send my deepest sympathies to miss Valkyrie." the blonde professor said._

 _Nora took Ren's death the worst, as one would imagine, and was deemed mentally unfit for combat, not that she'd wanted to after what had happened. The once proud Valkyrie was now an emotional mess, just staring out of her bedroom window with a pained expression. Jaune's family was kind enough to take her in and that is where she had been in the past few weeks since the incident. Both Ruby and Jaune thought family would do her some good. The Arc house was very warm and welcoming, and the young knight's seven sisters where doing what they could to help support her._

" _Thank you professor." Jaune gave a polite nod before moving over to give Ruby space all the while taking a few more steps to reach the caped headmaster._

" _Ah, Jaune," Qrow addressed him with his first name as he extended his hand for another handshake. "Congratulations. You've done well."_

 _Qrow's grip was firm and the young knight felt the strength in the simple handshake. Jaune looked up to meet the headmaster's eyes. In them, he saw pride, but he also saw pain._

 _In the years after their return to Beacon, and with their team's involvement with Ozpin's inner circle, Qrow had become a close mentor to them, and all four of them have learned so much from him, especially Jaune._

 _The imposing man gave him a pat on the shoulder before releasing him to join his fellow graduates. Ruby took Jaune's place in front of her uncle._

" _Congratulations, Red."_

" _Thanks, Uncle Qrow." she gave a forced smile._

 _It's been hard for all of them_

 _The Huntsman license was uploaded to the Valean records the day before and the graduates were set to receive their confirmation on their scrolls by today or tomorrow. The electronic ID is all that they would need to gain access to most of the city's facilities when it came to official Huntsman business._

 _All the graduates lined up against the back wall of the auditorium's large stage. There were ten in total, two teams of four plus Ruby and Jaune._

 _The deep red backdrop complimented their black graduation robes quite well._

 _They should have been happier, but they weren't._

* * *

 **Chapter end.**

* * *

 **Hope it was up to standard. As usual, lemme know your thoughts!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! I'm back from the dead... somewhat. ok i managed to squeeze enough time to finish this chapter in my busy schedule of preparing for exams in the coming weeks. college is hard alright?! and although i'd live to update more frequently, i've been really busy these past few months. i havent really had that much time in one sitting to refine the chapter so this was written across several sittings. i hope i did well enough to weed out any errors and inconsistencies.**

 **I'd also like to thank you guys for your reviews. i feel like I'm learning a lot from reading your feedback and am trying to integrate it into the chapters I'm writing.**

 **this is a rather short chapter and i apologize for the length but i hope it was up to standard anyway. I'll be done with this semester's exams on the 3rd of February and I hope to be able to write more often between then and when my internship starts.**

* * *

It had been a week after initiation and Ozpin was quietly sipping on his coffee.

It seemed his future successor in Qrow had left Mr. Arc and Ms. Schnee with nothing more than vague information. He was confident in his ability to process said info and to an extent, reliably deduce the rest. Regardless, there was a lot of guesswork involves as well as a lot of holes he has yet to patch up. How Ozpin hated unknowns.

He fully expected the odd pair to completely question his admittedly quite passive reaction to what he had learned from them, just as the Schnee heiress had, but he was pleasantly surprised at the look on the young blonde's face. He was honestly impressed. Mr Arc understood that their situation was incredibly delicate and any sudden actions will draw unwanted attention to themselves.

The biggest focus he had was securing information on these unique dust crystals.

From what he understood from the explanation they recited from Qrow was that these crystals were unique even through the split in the time line. If his understanding on the matter is correct, then this most likely meant that the crystals that have been consumed should disappear from existence in all parallel flows of time, both past and present. Regardless, it was important that Salem does not get her hands on those again.

It would be difficult to pinpoint the exact point in time as to when they were discovered. All the Beacon headmaster could do was estimate a plausible time frame considering the time between now and its 'future use', as well as the length the expedition must have taken and the amount of time the research was done.

The pair mentioned that she should not know where these unique objects where mined from and he hoped that that information was accurate.

Here lay his dilemma. To play a check mate, one had to cross out one's opponent's exit routs and choke them into defeat, and these crystals where certainly an 'exit route'.

They had mentioned that they were mined somewhere in a Vacuan Deserts. Ozpin played with the idea of sending out a squad to investigate the area but that in itself posed two major problems. First, the deserts of Vacuo were massive, spreading out as far as the eye can see, and even the eastern parts alone spanned several hundred kilometers across, not to mention the sandstorms that often buffeted the land. The second and more dangerous problem was the attention that this could attract. He had no idea where Salem had her eyes and ears, and an expedition to the area could lead her straight to the crystals.

Granted, the machinery nor the research that enabled the full use of these mysterious objects have yet to be undertaken by the Atlesean Scientists, and Ozpin was doubtful that these crystals, as of the moment, would be of any use even if they were to be dug up. Regardless, it was possibility he would much rather prevent from the start.

James was a trusted ally, that much Ms. Schnee had confirmed, although he might go off on his own from time to time. Jacques Schnee on the other hand, Weiss herself had admitted that he was a man that could not be trusted. And considering his power and influence over Atlas, the Beacon headmaster had to be doubly careful.

Regardless, the best Ozpin could do at the moment was to ask the good general to keep a discreet eye on all current and upcoming research projects involving dust and aura, and the report as well as attempt to block out any and all involving the Vacuan deserts, all without catching the attention of the SDC's rpresident..

He took another sip of his coffee, enjoying the sensation of the warm liquid running down his throat. He leaned back against his char. Difficult times were ahead.

* * *

The loud blasts of shotgun shells being discharged reverberated across the arena. Weiss and Yang were currently occupying the central platform and Jaune was leaning against the outer wall with Blake up in the stands right above him. Both the faunus and the resident brawler wondered why their leader was inside the ring but he waved them away at wanting to see the fight close up. A half assed answer no doubt, but neither of them felt particularly inclined to argue. The young knight's eyes were trained on the pair sparring beneath them, his head resting on the slightly curved wall and his arms crossed in front of his chest. His gaze was sharp as he analyzed every move made in this fight.

"You're leaving too many openings." Weiss said as she dodged another combo to smack Yang's knee with the side of her rapier.

The blonde's eyes were red now. The young heiress had been dodging all of Yang's attempts to land any damage. Even more frustrating was that Weiss was striking her back with the dull edge of her blade seemingly intent on edging her on.

This had been going on for quite a while now and Yang was visibly winded. She was panting and a layer of sweat was forming on her forehead. _'She isn't pacing herself.'_ Jaune thought. She was blinded by her frustration. Yang was a heavy hitter, no question about that. And her stamina was impressive, so was her ability to take hits. But she was also hot headed and the smirk on Weiss' lips certainly was not helping calm the blonde down.

Team ABYS' leader knew that his partner was doing it on purpose, getting her angrier and angrier. The best ways to fix weaknesses was to expose them first. The pair were hoping that showing her how she lets her emotions rule her in combat can be an asset, but can also be a liability.

"You're too slow." the heiress commented again.

"Shut up! Shut up!" came the response through grinding teeth.

Another dodge, another tap to the inside of Yang's knee.

"Your low stance gives you power for each strike, but power won't help you against an opponent you cant hit."

The brawler once again tried to attack with renewed vigor.

"Find a balance between speed and power, change your style to match your enemy's."

"Stop running! Gah! Hold still!"

Even from the stands, Jaune was still able to audibly hear his fellow blond growl in between breaths as she tried another string of punches and kicks, none of which landing. Weiss weaved left and right gracefully as if she were dancing, before lifting her foot to stop one of the brawler's kicks, the sole of the fencer's boot pressing against the attacking knee, pushing the entire limb back down.

Yang was visibly slowing and the girl in white took the opportunity to lift herself into the air and perform an incredibly quick roundhouse kick, her heel making solid contact with her opponent's temple sending her flying to the side.

The blonde was able to right herself midair to land on her boots. She bent her knees and raised her arms behind her preparing to use her shotgun gauntlets' recoil to propel herself forward when she saw a pair of bright blue eyes right in front of her own making her gasp, before Weiss pulled in her free, right fist close to her shoulder and slammed her forearm against the bigger girl's cheek sending her sprawling onto the ground.

"She's fast." The young knight heard Blake near whisper the words from above.

"Yeah, she is. She's quick and incredibly agile." He affirmed. "What she lacks in raw strength, she makes up for with speed."

The young knight looked up and noticed how Blake, who was previously focused on her book, now sat leaning forward slightly, the bound pages of her new novel occupying the seat beside her.

Yang rolled back and began her charge anew, her boots stomping into the ground.

The young fencer stabbed Myrtenaster into the ground before taking a step forward and redirecting Yang's fist with her right palm before quickly raising her left forearm and striking the bigger girl's other cheek.

Yang stumbled back a few paces and Weiss slowly, deliberately walked after her.

Yang was quite audibly growling now. Another punch, another redirection, another counter, this time, the smaller girl lashed out her palm onto the blonde's chest.

And again, she countered with the heel of her hand against the brawler's chin making her head snap back as she spun around her elbowed her spine dropping the brawler on all fours.

In a fit of rage, Yang spun around and threw and blind semblance enhanced jab, one which the heiress sidestepped with ease. Though the brawler's eyes widened as she tried to stop her momentum noticing too late how her fist was now on a direct path towards her fellow blonde. It was too late to stop her momentum and Yang squeezed her eyes shut waiting for her fist to come into contact with her leader's face. Only to yelp in pain as her fist collided with something incredibly hard.

Jaune hadn't even moved, still impassively looking at her, this time through a translucent, but very much solid barrier a mere centimeter off the boy's nose.

The brawler tried to form words but Weiss didn't let her, finally ending the fight by grabbing her outstretched elbow, forcing her to turn 90 degrees and yanking her forward, the small knee making sufficient contact with Yang's abdomen, and the air quite audibly whooshing out of her lungs. Her legs wobbled slightly, struggling to keep her upright, as the white haired girl struck the edge of her flat hand against the side of her opponents neck bringer the bigger girl down onto her knees, making her vision swim and simultaneously causing the arena speakers to blare out signaling the end of the match.

Jaune looked up to the display above the arena. Yang's aura was in the red while Weiss' was sitting at 97%, looks like she lost some aura in that melee. Hand to hand combat isn't her specialty. She's probably used some elements of it to further frustrate her opponent and prove her point, despite how it caused some minor self harm.

"Emotions can grant you strength, but you mustn't let them control you." Weiss said rather softly, reciting the same words Winter had once told her.

Yang looked up to look up at the Schnee, appearing much larger than her frame would allow otherwise, surprised at the tone of her voice.

"The ability to fuel your semblance with your anger is a powerful tool, but the moment you lose yourself in a fit of rage then you become a threat to not only yourself but to you allies as well."

The blonde looked like she was about to refute that statement but her earlier actions caused her to rethink her potential outburst. Most of the blonde's anger had disappeared by now but she would be lying to herself if she said that she wasn't still a bit frustrated by how the events of their fight played out.

She had to begrudgingly accept her teammate's criticism however. On any other situation, she would have scoffed at her and denied her claim bit the way she blindly attacked her leader earlier left no room for debate.  
the brawler turned her head to the side to look up at her leader. Blake peered down at her with a curious gaze while Jaune was regarding her with what she could describe as an analytical eye. Her eyes went back to the white haired girl and the heiress was bending down towards her slightly while extending her hand. Yang grasped the open palm and Weiss helped her back to her feet.

Getting schooled by someone from your own age group would normally infuriate the proud blonde to no end, but even she was able to tell that this girl was nowhere near normal. she and the her partner were very different to say the least.

* * *

"Wanna spar, Blake?" Jaune suddenly piped up rather happily causing Blake to turn her attention to him, clear suspicion in her yellow eyes.

Blake saw the fight between her partner and the Schnee heiress, if one could even call that a fight. And if their leader was as strong as the white clad girl then a spar against him would most likely leave her in the same sorry state Yang was in. And Blake was fairly certain that he was just that, if not, even stronger.

Regardless, she could not deny that Weiss was effectively exposing the blonde brawler's weaknesses. This could potentially help her in the future, if of course, Yang took this fight to heart and is willing to learn from it. This did not stop her from feeling incredibly wary of the pair.

"I think I'll pass."

"Come on, Blake. It'll be fun!" She narrowed her eyes at that.

"Yeah, Blake," Yang spoke up between pants from down on the arena floor. She glanced up at her and gave her a grin and a thumbs up. "It'll be fun."

"No thank you." she repeated, trying to draw attention away from herself by opening her book.

"Oh come on, I did it so its your turn now." her partner called again.

"You were the one who challenged her, a clearly superior opponent." she got a scowl in return

"Don't you want to test yourself? And although what they showed at initiation was impressive, don't you want to see their strength for yourself?" the pair in question shared a quick glance at this.

"Alright, maybe another time." Blake was rather surprised that Jaune was the one who conceded. As he pushed off the wall and patted some imaginary dust off his jeans. "It should be about time for dinner anyway. Lets get to the cafeteria before the lines get too long."

It had been a week since initiation and Blake was surprised to find herself fitting in well enough. Her teammates, to an extent, seemed to understand her need for personal space and respect her wishes to sometimes just stay in the library alone. Granted, Yang often tried to pull her into socializing and Blake was also putting in some effort in return. She knew it was important to bond with her team but given her past, she was still too wary of getting too close to others.

So there she was, walking with her team to the changing rooms on the way to the cafeteria to give her teammates a chance to change out of their combat attires. She was a few steps behind her leader and the Schnee heiress, with her own partner beside her talking excitedly about a bar brawl she was a part of a few days before she came to Beacon. Her face was buried in a book but the buxom blonde didn't seem to notice as she continued to retell how she socked the bar owner square in the face.

It didn't take long for Weiss and Yang to don their uniforms and soon enough, team ABYS was standing before the large double doors that stood between them and their destination.

* * *

Beacon's cafeteria was huge. Several aisles of tables were neatly arranged throughout the spacious building with long benches to either side of each table. The far end held the serving area with a few lines manned by several cafeteria ladies distributing different menus to different students.

The lines had started to form and the number of free tables was already beginning to dwindle.

Ruby and the rest of team PLVR sat down next to their 'sister team' as Little Red had called them, who seemed to save them spots. She set down her tray filled with delicious cake before she plopped herself down on the bench beside her sister, who was grunting in between bites. Blake and Weiss sat at the very end of the table with Yang beside Blake and Jaune to Weiss' left. Pyrrha calmly sat herself down in the open space to Ruby's right and the odd pair of Ren and Nora sat opposite them, the bubbly redhead's plate stacked with an impressively tall tower of pancakes, despite it not being the right time of day for such a meal.

She was happy with her team. All of them seem understanding and fun. honestly, she had _the_ Pyrrha Nikos on her team, and Nora looked like someone whom she would get along really well. Her sister might even say that they would get along a little _too well._ All 3 of them had really awesome weapons as well and her interest in them had certainly proved to be a good means to break out of her timid self to interact with her teammates.

Despite all this though, she couldn't help but glance at the blonde leader of team ABYS sitting on the other side of the table.

The way he stopped that deathstalker was incredibly impressive and from that alone she could tell that he was a very strong fighter, but what really caught her attention was how he took control of their collective unit against the nevermore, how he quickly thought up a course of action and how he was able to clearly issue commands that were easy to understand, efficient and effective. He was a leader of a freshman team, same as her, but the gap in their abilities was huge.

The past week she had been thinking herself lacking. If he was what was standard from a team leader of their year, then she had no hope of matching him.

She had an amazing team, with teammates who were all extremely skilled, teammates who most likely would do a better job of leading a team such as this. They haven't said anything, but she wondered if they found her to be lacking as well, especially after Jaune's display a week before.

Pyrrha glanced up from her plate filled with salad to give her a smile, one so honest and warm that she couldn't help but feel better upon seeing it. She turned to look slightly to the Mistrali's right to see her fellow team leader also give her a similar smile, a little awkward but no less genuine.

"So, how are you liking Beacon so far, Ruby?" Jaune asked her suddenly.

Ruby was caught off guard slightly by the sudden start of a conversation and she stuttered with the first few words.

"I-uhh-great! Umm... Beacon's great." she looked back down to her plate.

"Youngest person to get accepted, that's a really impressive feat."

"Thanks." she stuttered out once more.

She honestly disliked it when people pointed that out. It has been a week since classes started, and several students have already approached her about it, with all kinds of reactions. She disliked being the center of attention, it made her feel extremely uncomfortable. Another difference she had with her fellow leader. He seemed to thrive, having no problems at all talking to strangers and even figures of authority. She'd seen the way the headmaster approached him for some one thing or another.

"What about you Jaune? Which primary combat school did you attend?" Pyrrha asked suddenly, pulling the blonde's attention away from Ruby. She caught her redheaded partner give her a small smile before she once again turned to Jaune.

The young reaper was thankful to Pyrrha, it seemed like she understood exactly how Ruby was feeling about all the attention. She once again looked down at the half eaten cake on her plate, still listening in on the conversation however. She was curious about Jaune, about his past, how he became what he is how. She was hoping she could learn something. In fact, she was certain she could learn a lot from him, thought she never really had the guts to ask him for tips. She toyed with the idea of asking her sister, but she somehow felt as thought this a matter she should do herself.

"I uhh- I didn't go to a primary combat school, I was actually an apprentice to a veteran huntsman. I sorta tagged along in his travels. He taught me a lot though." she was surprised at his little stutter. He looked rather uncomfortable answering the question. _Painful memories perhaps?_

"I see." her partner replied slowly, likely having come up with the same conclusion as her. "He must have been a great huntsman."

"Yeah." the blonde was rubbing the back of his head.

* * *

Weiss observed Ruby from her seat at the very edge of the table. Something about her seemed off and Weiss couldn't really place her finger on it. It was somewhat familiar, but still very much odd. She'd been acting a lot more reserved than what she remembered. Was Ruby always this shy? Considering Weiss' rather recent memories of the young Rose, her view could simple be skewed towards the more mature and outgoing person Ruby grew up to be, regardless, the heiress still felt as thought something was amiss.

She was acting like… like… Weiss' eyes widened slightly as something connected in her head. Little Red was acting similarly to the way she did in the previous timeline, at around the point where the heiress herself questioned her worth as the leader of their team. There was some doubt in her eyes, like she was wondering if she was truly deserving, as if the headmaster had made a mistake.

Having come to this realization, Weiss still didn't quite understand what the cause was for her previous partner's behavior was, considering she doubted any of the members of team PLVR would act the way she, herself, did previously. And Ruby did not seem like the type whose spirits are lowered that easily.

She sincerely doubted Ren and Nora and particularly Pyrrha would question the younger girl's appointment as leader considering they were the ones that accepted Jaune back when he was a hopeless mess.

So this brought up the question as to what was causing Ruby to behave this way.

"Man! this sure hits the spot." Yang voiced out as she finished her steak. "I really needed that after that 'training session'." she finished, patting her belly.

Ruby looked at her older sister quickly. "You already started training?"

"Yeah, our 'fearless leader' over here," she started as she nodded forward hinting at the other blonde sitting across from her, "decided to get started sooner. We were gonna go through a training routine but I thought starting the semester off with a good spar would be best. The 'spar' didn't really work out for me though." she emphasized by making quotation sign gestures with her fingers. "I'm still sore all over."

"Was more like a one sided beating if you asked me." Blake added without looking up from her book.

"Hey, at least I had the guts to try."

"I admire your courage and your resilience, congratulations." she did not even look up as she flipped another page of her book.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad."

Her eyes peeked over the black bound book to stare at her partner. "It was pretty bad."

"Best way to improve is to push you to the limit." Jaune supplied.

Weiss observed Ruby's reaction to the conversation as the trio continued their squabbles and slowly, the younger girls behavior was starting to make sense.

Having someone who doesn't know what he's doing as a leader along side you in your batch can instill a sense of confidence into anyone, really, but having seen what current Jaune was capable of, how he led them the way he did in the fight against the nevermore, it might not be a far off idea that Ruby would find herself inferior when placed in the same pot at him.

the heiress sighed slightly. This was getting a lot more complicated. Albeit minor, it was another addition to their long list of problems.

* * *

Glynda Goodwitch was rather bothered by the contents in the papers she was currently holding in her arms. The elevator running through the spine of Beacon tower was slowly ascending up to the headmaster's office, finally coming to a halt with a soft ding.

The young woman saw professor Ozpin swivel in his chair to face his desk as the large bronze doors slid apart.

"Professor, here are the files you requested from the Vale Police Department. It seems there are indeed a lot of unsolved dust robberies in Vale."

"And I take it the police have none of the perpetrators in custody?"

"That's right." she nodded, her gaze sharp as she once again looked over the papers. "I fail understand how the local law enforcement could be so incapable. They have had enough forewarning." she expected more, honestly, she expected _something_. But no, the Valean Police have zero traces. The only reason they identified Torchwick was because of her own involvement with a robbery a few weeks ago.

"Rather than being incapable. I believe 'unwilling' is a better term to use."

"Are you suggesting that the police are avoiding the thefts on purpose?" she asked, not really surprised.

"The person leading the crimes, Roman Torchwick, has proven to be a sly and highly intelligent man. Yet even so, I do not believe he is capable of getting away with all that he has so far without some inside aid. The first blunder we have truly seen from him was the night we met miss Rose. Where the Valean police showed up hours after the crime had been committed." the files were transferred from Glynda's scroll to the large displays on the Headmaster's desk. "It was fortunate that you were out doing errands that night else young Ruby could have been seriously hurt."

"If that is the case, why not involve ourselves. Given our position as Beacon staff it should be no problem if we were to carry out our own investigation."

"That wouldn't do."Ozpin paused to take another sip of his coffee. His eyes still skimming the text of the reports. "I am not in the best of terms with the council as is, nor do we want to tip their insider off lest we spook him. For now, it is best we observe." Glynda narrowed her eyes slightly at this, it was disconcerting, yet coming from the headmaster, it was also somewhat expected.

The deputy headmistress of the Academy could only let out a deep sigh. She had followed Ozpin for years, and he had never let her down. Despite her own uncertainty, the headmaster seemed to know what he was doing. She certainly hoped so.

* * *

 **Chapter End.**

* * *

 **sorry if it came as a bit of a short end. i had another flashback drafted like i usually did with all other past chapters but i felt like it was much too soon to reveal that little piece of our protagonists pasts. it just didn't fit. i tried to set a scene (another flashback) that happened before the one i wrote but it came out forced and i just decided to leave it out entirely. anyway, see you guys in the next chapter.**


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